


Oikawa Tooru Steals Clothes

by sugascrows



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Drunkenness, Fluff, Kissing, Love Triangles, M/M, Teasing, haikyuu!! - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2018-12-24 08:42:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 34,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12009141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugascrows/pseuds/sugascrows
Summary: Oikawa is forced to switch to a new school in the middle of the term due to family issues. Good thing there's a group of guys on a mission to make things interesting.(my writing gets better throughout the story; warning long chapters)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This is the first fic I've ever posted and it's far from finished, meaning I'll update weekly. It's super long already, but I can't seem to get myself to let go just yet haha. I'm sorry if there still are mistakes, I'm rather confident when it comes to writing in English, but it's not my first language, and I'd very much appreciate it if you could point them out to me. Of course, I'm always happy to receive constructive criticism as well, considering I'm new to all of this. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this and if you want, hit me up on Instagram (@tooruhh)

Oikawa tiredly rubbed his eyes and reached over to grab his phone from his desk, shutting off his alarm and almost dropping it on his face in the process. He tried hard not to scowl at the blinding numbers flashing up on his screen. They were way too low for his liking. He made a mental note to set having to get up almost half an hour earlier than before on the rather long list of bad things that came with moving to Miyagi with his mom.

He sat up too fast when his mother opened the door a bit to peek inside, quickly moving his hands up to his temples, massaging the painfully pounding area lightly.

“Morning Tooru”, she smiled gently, “Did I wake you up?”

“No you didn’t. Morning.”

She raised her brows at the growl thrown her way, but decided not to ask him about it,

“I see you haven’t unpacked much of your things yet, have you”, she giggled.

“Uhh no, no I haven’t. Is breakfast ready?”

She nodded slowly and sighed, blowing a strand of light brown hair out of her face. It was the same color as Tooru’s, just not as unruly and wild as his. Surely, she had taken care of her bedhead earlier this morning, but even if she hadn’t it wouldn’t have been quite as messy.

“Just get dressed and come downstairs once you’re ready”, she said before giving him another one of her bright smiles, walking out and _not_ closing the door behind herself, as always, making her son frown in frustration.

He decided that – unfortunately - getting up was necessary and slowly rolled himself off his mattress, making sure to still put down his right foot first, before fully standing up and making his way to the bathroom.

He tried his best to ignore the mirrored view of unruly hair that was seemingly defying gravity as it stuck out in every possible direction.

Taking his tooth brush with him, he stepped into the spacious shower and closed the glass door behind him.

Getting out of the shower a few minutes later, he stumbled past a few boxes over to one that had “clothes Tooru” written on it in black, sloppy edding letters.

He couldn’t have been more proud of himself when he discovered, that he had indeed, smartly put his school uniform at the very top of the pile of clothing in the box. Quickly slipping on his lilac shirt and pulling his cream sweater vest over it, he grabbed his tie from the box and examined its unique color for a moment. It was a dark red that, at first sight, seemed to harshly break the scheme of light, pastel colors that made up the rest of his school uniform, however complimented it well, once it had been neatly tied around Oikawa’s neck. Lastly, he pulled on the beige checkered pants and walked over to his desk to pick up a brush, before turning to look at himself in the full body mirror yet another time. He felt content with the way the natural light made his hair shine in just the right way, making it look only half as bad, despite the bedhead still being prominent atop of his head. He ran his brush through his locks at least a hundred times, until he was fine with the way the cow licks stuck out in a playful way.

Grabbing his phone and throwing his schoolbag over his shoulder, he walked downstairs to meet his mother for breakfast.

She waved him to sit down across from her and handed him a plate with scrambled eggs and bacon on the side.

“Wow that’s special breakfast”, he joked, taking the plate.

“Nothing less on your first day at your new school”, she laughed, “and don’t tell me it’s nothing, Tooru, I know you’re secretly freaking out about it.”

He looked down at his plate smiling, “I promised you not to. Also, I’m probably not half as excited as you are. It’s your old school after all.”

“You’re probably right. Don’t forget to find out whether there still are some of my old teachers. You know I used to be an excellent student.”

“Of course you were. I’ll make sure to tell them about how awesome you are now.”

She gently slapped his hand, telling him to stop being cheeky and eat his breakfast instead.

\-------------------- 

He was about to walk out when his mother caught him at the door of their apartment.

“Okay”, she sighed nervously, “You’re sure you have everything you need? Money? Your ID card? Oh please tell me you got the doc’s letter with you. You cannot forget to hand it to the dean, you hear me? No sports, Tooru, none!”

“I know mom, oh my god, I have everything. You’re making me nervous now”, he mumbled, showing her the paper, “There it is, stop, please.”

She laughed, looking at him full of hope.

He reluctantly gave her a kiss on the cheek before waving a quick goodbye, getting out and walking on towards the train station. Oikawa was glad it wasn’t a long walk. His mother had really paid a lot of mind to the distance, when looking for an apartment.

The train to school was rather crowded, but Oikawa didn’t mind, he had other stuff to think about on his first day at a new school.

When he got off, he had to walk a bit further and cross a street, before turning left and heading toward the school’s gate.

He walked through the crowd of students who were waiting for the doors to open, some heads turning in his direction. Sure he was used to his relatives calling him a handsome, young man, but he never thought of himself as anything out of the ordinary so he figured they must’ve realized that he was the new kid. The thought of which Oikawa quickly dismissed however, considering his new school wasn’t particularly small.

He arrived at the big front door right when the first bell rang, signaling for the students to come in.

He walked past groups of chatting pupils, always keeping an eye on the signs, that were hung on the hallway’s walls, helping him find the principal’s office. He knocked twice and awkwardly waited for someone to answer or tell him to come in. After another few seconds of silence the door was opened revealing a young, rather short, buff guy, carrying papers, which, Oikawa believed, were graded tests. The boy flashed a smile at him and held the door open, signaling him to come in before walking past him and disappearing in the hallway.

The principal was leaning back in his chair, frowning at Oikawa, who bowed politely.

He eyed Oikawa suspiciously before his facial features relaxed and a grin spread on his face, seemingly recognizing the teenager from the picture his mom had sent with his other application papers.

“Ah you must be”, he flipped through a binder, stopping at what the brunette assumed was his student page, “Oikawa Tooru-kun?”

“Yes sir, that’s me.”

“I believe you already received all the information you need to start your first day at our school by mail”, he asked, looking at him over his small glasses.

Oikawa nodded slowly.

“Anything else I need to know”, the man asked, reading through the information on the paper.

Oikawa took a neatly folded letter out of his jackets pocket, handing it to him.

“I am not allowed to participate in any physical activity. I have a permanently damaged knee and physical therapy twice a week. I am willing to stay in another class for PE if that’s what you’d prefer me to do.”

The principal leaned over his desk, taking the paper from the boy and scanning it thoroughly.

“I see…Well if that’s the case, how did you work it out at your old school”, he asked after a while, not looking up from the sheet.

“I stayed in gym class and helped the teacher, but I understand if that’s not possible here.”

“No, no, that’s fine. We’ll see how it goes anyway. Your class will be put together with another one for Physical Education and I’m sure your teacher will gladly take all the help he can get”, he was smiling now.

Oikawa thanked him, but before he could excuse himself, the dean looked up once more,

“Do you want me to call someone to guide you to your classroom?”

“Ah no, thank you I’m fine by myself.”

“Are you sure? Our school’s pretty big and I don’t want you to get lost and be late to your first class”, he laughed loudly, making Oikawa want to take a step back.

Before he got the chance to protest, a tall, black haired student entered the office.

He stopped in his tracks, curiously scanning Oikawa from head to toe.

“Ah Kuroo-kun, would you mind introducing yourself to our new student?”

The raven, who seemed to be only a few centimeters taller than Oikawa, turned to him, a grin forming on his lips,

“Kuroo Tetsurou, nice to meet you”, he said, slightly bowing but not taking his eyes off of the, now blushing, brunette.

Oikawa swallowed before he averted his eyes and nodded his head,

“Oikawa Tooru.”

“Kuroo-kun, would you do me a favor and escort him to your classroom.”

Oikawa head jerked up,

“Our classroom?”

Kuroo ignored the boy and walked over to a small table in the corner of the room, picking up a pile of paper,

“Yes sir, I’d love to show our new student around a bit.”

He turned to Oikawa, whose cheeks were dusted a light shade of pink.

“Let’s go, Oikawa-san.”

The boys excused themselves and made their way out of the office, into the big hallway.

They walked in silence for a bit, before Kuroo turned to look at Oikawa.

“Well, Oikawa-san, what brings a prince like you to this modest school of ours?”

Tooru looked at him with a confused expression before bringing his hand to his face to hide his small laugh,

“Oh Kuroo-san, I enjoy the small things in life.”

Now it was Kuroo’s turn to laugh,

“For real, though, why did you switch schools in the middle of the term?”

“I moved here from Tokyo. It was rather spontaneous, to be honest.”

Kuroo hummed knowingly,

“Parental problems, I see.”

Oikawa grinned, “You’re a smart one, aren’t ya, Kuroo-san?”

Kuroo snorted, shaking his head, “If you knew who you’re talking to right now.”

Oikawa was about to answer, when he heard a voice from behind them,

“Tetsu, stop harassing our new meat!”

“New meat”, Oikawa repeated, turning around.

“Aww are you scared I’ll take him from you, Mattsun?”

“You would never do that, you love me too much.”

The tall boy finally caught up to them, smirking as he eyed Oikawa.

 “Hey honey, you come here often?”

Oikawa snorted looking at him, an amused expression on his face,

“I mean I guess from now on.”

“Sweet”, he tried hard not to burst out laughing, “I’m Matsukawa. Nice to meet you…?”

“Oikawa Tooru.”

“Oikawa”, he purred teasingly, “pretty name for a pretty person.”

“Why thank you, what was it again? Asshole?”

He heard Kuroo chuckle next to him.

“Rude. But I like the feisty ones better anyway.”

Tooru looked at him in disgust.

“Too much”, Kuroo stated, still laughing.

Oikawa rolled his eyes, “Yes, certainly.”

“Ah don’t worry babe, I was just kidding, I have a boyfriend.”

Oikawa wanted to retort something but the bell beat him to it.

The three hurried to get to the classroom, a rather small room at the end of the hall.

Inside there were only a few students, still chatting, some looking up to see Oikawa, others not minding him at all.

The two black haired boys pulled him along to the very back, sitting him down in between them.

Shortly after, a small, elderly woman entered the classroom and the student’s chatter slowly died down as they stood up to greet her.

When she arrived at the front desk, she scanned the class, her gaze stopping when she spotted an unfamiliar face.

“Right”, she said, brushing a strand of straight, dark brown hair out of her face, “Everyone, please welcome our new student”, she looked at Oikawa, motioning him to stand up.

He felt like a deer in spotlight, his entire class was staring at him.

“Uhm- My name is Oikawa Tooru”, he said, closing his eyes as he bowed slightly, “I’m from Tokyo, please treat me well.”

He didn’t quite know what he expected to happen, but an entire class staring at him in silence was not what he had hoped for.

Just when he thought he was going to burst under pressure, he felt a hand pull at the bottom of his shirt.

His head snapped to the left, where he saw Kuroo smiling up at him,

“You can sit down, you know.”

Oikawa slowly did so, feeling dizzy, but thankful.

“Oikawa-kun”, he heard the teacher call out to him,

“I assume you have received all the information you need beforehand, so all that’s left is getting to know your classmates, am I right”, now she was smiling at him, “Let’s use this homeroom lesson to introduce everyone to you.”

Oikawa wasn’t surprised that no one really seemed to put a lot of effort into their introduction.

Beside Kuroo and Matsukawa, that is.

Oikawa even had to laugh a bit at how extra cheerful they were, telling him their names again and making up stupid nicknames on the spot.

The teacher just sighed, seemingly used to their goofy antics.

Shortly before the bell rang, the teacher told Oikawa her own name, wishing him an amazing time at his new school.

Matsukawa, Issei, as he had found out earlier, invited him to eat lunch with Kuroo and his boyfriend from another class. Oikawa really wanted to decline but he insisted.

They still had three more classes and a break till lunch, but sitting next to the tall, flirty guys really made class bearable.

Time went by faster than expected and Oikawa was glad it did because somewhere between English and Japanese his stomach had started to growl ridiculously loud.

He practically jumped up when the bell rang, making Kuroo laugh at him and drag him all the way to the school’s cafeteria.

They met Mattsun’s boyfriend, Hanamaki Takahiro, somewhere on the way and he and Oikawa instantly got along. Matsukawa frowned at them but a quick kiss from his boyfriend made the corners of his lips turn up to form a bright smile.

The cafeteria wasn’t more than a big hall with lots of tables and chairs in it, that technically wasn’t even a cafeteria, as Kuroo explained, but was used for speeches the principal gave every now and then. However, the students were allowed to eat their lunches there and study throughout the breaks and after school.

They settled down at a table in the very back, next to a group of girls who were every now and then throwing glances at them, chatting and giggling excitedly.

Oikawa was busy eating and not listening to the other’s small talk until he overheard them talking about one of Takahiro’s friends.

He let his fork sink trying to catch up to their conversation.

“No but honestly, I thought he was going to rip my head off when he walked into class carrying the pile all by himself. Like I just sat there ready to run. I’m not getting decapitated with those arms, Issei. They’re out of this world. It’s almost scary. You know how I’m waiting for his sleeves to just rip whenever he flexes”, Hanamaki said, a terrified expression on his face.

“Uhm guys who are we talking about again?”

Hanamaki looked at him in disbelief, then back at Matsukawa,

“Did you guys not tell him”, he asked turning back to the brunette.

Matsukawa nudged his arm slightly, causing him to almost spill his drink over his food,

“Speak of the devil”, Kuroo grinned.

Oikawa looked up at a familiar face, his cheeks instantly turning a bright red.

“First of all, I’m not the devil, second of all, you still owe me one Makki”, he huffed glaring at the shivering boy.

He averted his eyes to look at Oikawa and his expression was replaced by a softer one.

“Do I know you?”

Oikawa’s heart was beating out of his chest, he really wasn’t used to making friends and three were more than enough for a day. Not to mention that this guy’s aura was far different from the other idiots’.

“I-I uhh yeah, we met earlier at the principal’s office, you wouldn’t remember me, I’m not really conspicuous”, the brunette said avoiding eye contact.

“Bullshit”, he heard Kuroo mumble, his mouth full of plain tasting onigiri.

“Well I wouldn’t say that, but I meet lots of people at the dean’s office every day, so I’m sorry for not recognizing you”, he stretched his hand out to Oikawa, who hesitantly shook it, “Iwaizumi Hajime, nice to meet you again.”

“That’s right”, Matsukawa nodded his head in Iwaizumi’s direction, “This guy is the student representative. He’s the one who can make all your dreams come true”, he winked at Oikawa, making him blush an even darker shade of red.

“Hey I don’t work like you and Makki.”

“Iwaizumi you pervert”, Hanamaki gasped in shock.

Now it was Hajimes turn to blush furiously,

“I-I mean no! No that’s not what I meant to say. I was just-“

“Shh, it’s alright Iwa we’re all gay perverts here”, Matsukawa interrupted him.

“Maybe Oikawa is straight”, Kuroo threw in, turning and pointing his chopsticks at the boy, who stayed silent.

“About as straight as a circle”, Hanamaki whispered loud enough for all five of them to hear.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2, here you goo. Basically, after this, I still have 7 chapters ready to be posted and since I've decided to update weekly (Tuesdays), I have another 7 weeks of time to continue writing! Which is good, cause school just started for me last week and I'm already really busy ugh. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and again, I would really appreciate constructive criticism and it'd be great if you could point out any mistakes to me (of course this includes things such as spelling and grammar). Don't be afraid to talk to me, I don't bite ;)

When they parted ways after lunch break was over, Matsukawa made sure to tease Oikawa about how nervous he was in Iwaizumi’s presence.  
“I told you, it’s because I’m not that good with new people.”  
Would always be countered with a remark like,  
“You were just fine talking to us. But don’t worry, it’s no secret he’s hot. If he himself didn’t know before, then you made him realize it.”  
Which made Oikawa blush again and even his other classmates asked if he was alright, while Kuroo seemed to be having the time of his life.  
Oikawa had never met someone this straightforward and at that time, he didn’t think of it as a good quality for a person to have.  
On top of that, he felt betrayed by Kuroo, who didn’t bother at all to defend him.  
At least Oikawa really enjoyed math class; for once, it wasn’t because of his new friends, but because he noticed that he was way ahead of the rest of the class, already having gone through most of the material back in Tokyo.  
After class the teacher asked him to stay behind. When Kuroo and the rest of the students were already on their way to their next class, Matsukawa waiting outside for Oikawa, the teacher motioned him to sit down on one of the chairs.  
“Oikawa-kun. Do you happen to be related to a certain Oikawa Itsuko-san?”  
The boy jerked at the name but quickly regained his composure and his lips stretched into a small smile,  
“Yeah, that’s my mom.”  
“Ah yes, I see you both are indeed quite similar, you both seem to be good students.”  
The boy chuckled at this statement, thinking back to what his mom had told him at breakfast.  
“Thank you, but I’m really nothing compared to her. She’s even more excellent now.”  
The teacher laughed and shook her head,  
“Yes that sounds a lot like Itsuko. You know she was one of my best friends in high school. We really were a handful. But enough of that, I’m impressed by how well you managed to catch up. I assume you’ve gone through most of the material in Tokyo, right?”  
“Yeah, we did”, he glanced at the door and then back at the teacher, “I could give you her number if you’d like?”  
“Yes that would be great.”  
He quickly ripped a piece of paper from his notebook and scribbled his mother’s telephone number on it. Handing it to his teacher, he waved her goodbye and left the class to meet up with Matsukawa.  
When he turned around the corner he found his friend sitting on the floor, Makki leaning against him, his face pressed into his boyfriend’s shoulder.  
Oikawa strode over to them, motioning them to get up, to which the strawberry blonde reacted by pressing a kiss to Mattsuns lips, before getting up and pulling the boy up afterwards.  
“Ready”, the taller asked, picking up his bag.  
Oikawa nodded and was about to turn around when he felt a hand on his shoulder, making him jump.  
“Sorry”, Iwaizumi said, a hint of amusement in his voice, “I didn’t mean to startle you.”  
“No, it’s fine”, Oikawa smiled at him, cheeks dusted a light shade of pink.  
Iwaizumi wasn’t much shorter than him but he still had to tilt his head a bit to look at his face. Oikawa noticed a faint blush on his cheeks as well which made him feel a little better. He watched him run a hand through his black, slightly spiky hair, his green eyes never looking directly at Oikawa’s chestnut colored ones.  
“Let’s go lovebirds”, Hanamaki laughed, grabbing Iwa’s arm and dragging him along to their next class. It was the last one for the day and the couple invited Iwaizumi and Oikawa to join them for ice cream but Iwa declined, having a doctor’s appointment. Oikawa asked why they hadn’t invited Kuroo to join them and found out that the boy didn’t like ice cream, which he didn’t understand, but he accepted the answer nonetheless. Then, Oikawa, of course, declined as well. He just needed room to think. He was going to make tea, put on his favorite show and settle down on their big couch in the living room. He really needed some time for himself.  
Their last class was History and even though Oikawa had always thought of it as one of the most boring subjects, he found that his new teacher really made class interesting. He didn’t have any trouble following his words.  
When the bell rang, Oikawa had already packed most of his stuff and was ready to jump up from his seat and storm out, but he didn’t want to just leave Matsukawa and Kuroo without saying goodbye. The three walked out together and parted ways when Mattsun spotted his boyfriend in the crowd and Kuroo met a girl, a friend of his, apparently.  
Oikawa was glad it didn’t rain, despite the grey clouds that were hovering above the city. He walked towards a big crossroad, quickly checking his phone for any of his mom’s texts, when he bumped into someone.  
“Sorry”, he apologized, looking up from his phone.  
“Oikawa-san?”  
It took Oikawa a second to realize who he had bumped into, before he let his phone slide into his jacket’s pocket, a smile making its way onto his face,  
“Ah, please drop the –san. Didn’t you say you had an appointment at the doctor’s?”  
Iwa grinned, rubbing the back of his neck,  
“Well, Oikawa, same goes for you, then. And yeah, I still have 30 minutes. Are you walking in this direction”, he asked pointing to his left.  
“Uhm yeah, actually I take the train.”  
“I do too, today. Mind me accompanying you? If we’re going to see each other every day from now on, I might as well get to know you better, don’t you think”, Iwaizumi was smiling softly at him. He probably noticed how easily Oikawa got nervous around him, much to the boy’s displeasure.  
“Sure, I don’t mind at all”, he answered, voice falling silent toward the end.  
Iwa nodded at him, humming silently, as they waited for the traffic lights to turn green.  
To Oikawas luck the train ride wasn’t awkward; Iwa was asking lots of questions about him and his life in Tokyo, obviously making sure to never push the boy into telling him more than necessary.  
They didn’t have much time to talk before Oikawa told Iwa that he’d have to get off at the next stop and the boy insisted on walking him home.  
“My mom had to pick me up from school every day back when we lived in Tokyo”, Oikawa said holding the door to his apartment building open for Iwa to come in.  
They stood in front of the elevator when the shorter boy spoke again,  
“Isn’t the public transportation really great there?”  
“I guess. But it’s not really good for me to walk long distances and my house was pretty far away from my old school, more on the outskirts of the city”, he smiled sheepishly, stepping out of the elevator, taking his keys out of his pocket and making his way to his own apartment.  
Iwaizumi looked at him with a questioning expression, but Oikawa turned around before he could start talking.  
“I really have to go now, thank you for accompanying me here, Iwa-chan.”  
Oikawa’s eyes shot open when he realized what he had just said.  
“S-Sorry”, he stuttered, turning around and slamming the door shut behind him.  
He let himself fall back against it, his heart racing.  
“Fuck”, he whined, hitting his head, “Why do I have to be such a damn idiot?”  
He heard a silent sigh come from the hallway,  
“Oikawa? Are you alright in there”, followed by a small chuckle, “I swear it’s okay. I’m not mad, really not. My uhh- My grandfather used to call me Hajime-chan when I was a kid. Really, it’s okay.”  
Oikawa waited in silence for a while.  
He wasn’t going to check if Iwaizumi was still there, not going to open the door, not going to spy through the peephole. He was just going to sit there for a few more minutes, waiting for his heart to stop pounding and listen closely if there was any sign Iwaizumi hadn’t left. Then, once he was sure that the coast was clear, he would get up and do what he had planned all day, hopefully being able to push the incident to the far back of his mind as quickly as possible.  
\--------------------  
Oikawa was about to throw away his two empty cups of noodles when he heard the door unlock. It had gotten dark outside by the time his mother arrived at home and he was way too excited to tell her about his first day of school.  
He rushed to the door to pull her into a tight hug as soon as she stepped in.  
“Tooru! Baby, are you okay?”  
She was probably expecting him to cry, but instead he looked up at her, a wide smile on his face,  
“Yes! Yes, I am. Mom you don’t understand.”  
She hugged him back and smiled up at her son.  
“You can tell me all about it once we settled down at the dining table, okay”, she asked, holding up a bag, obviously takeout.  
Even though Oikawa wasn’t really hungry, or rather still a little full from eating two cups of ramen as a snack, he still joined her.  
When they both had their food in front of them, his mother looked at him expectantly.  
He swallowed and took a sip of his drink before speaking up, once again grinning widely,  
“So, uhh where do I start? Well, there’s this guy in my class. When I first met him, he immediately came over and started flirting with me. But don’t worry he has a boyfriend, he was just kidding. Anyways, so this guy’s name is Matsukawa Issei, his boyfriend is Hanamaki. In my class there’s also a guy called Kuroo and he called me prince and I was kinda embarrassed but you know, he’s really great, super funny and uh- I forgot to ask if he was in a relationship…Not that I want to know for a particular reason!”  
His mom giggled, raising an eyebrow, “Of course not.”  
Oikawa sighed, smiling at his mother, who motioned him to continue talking,  
“Then we went and had lunch at the cafeteria and uhh- Anyway, there the student representative, Iwaizumi, joined us too. He’s in Makki’s class. And mom, he has muscles you wouldn’t believe they’re real, honestly. He even accompanied me here, he’s really nice. We talked about Tokyo and my school there on our way here. It was fun…I’m so happy, this is great.”  
His mother was watching him in awe, Tooru noticed, but he didn’t mind. She’d only seen him this cheerful on very rare occasions lately. Even though the boy knew, they had moved because his mother had gotten a better paid job at a doctor’s office not far from their new apartment here in Miyagi, he still felt like she had done it partly for him. Of course they could’ve stayed in Tokyo, even after his parents got divorced, but she knew well, that all of it wasn’t easy on her son. Oikawa’s sister hadn’t been living with them anymore, after all, she was married to an amazing young man and mother of an adorable, smart-mouthed little boy, so the divorce didn’t have such a huge impact on her life.  
“Tooru I’m so glad you had a good first day. It’s a good omen, you’ll see, your year will be great too.”  
They ate for a bit, his mother telling him about her first day at her new job and about how well she got along with her colleagues and the patients. She only told him about a few of her patients in particular, who Tooru wasn’t too interested in, but still listened, figuring it was the right thing to do, since, she too, had listened to him rambling on about his new friends. He looked up from his food when she started talking about a young man, not older than him, whom she had talked to at the doctor’s today.  
“He told me about how difficult it was for him to take care of all the things that came with having a father who suffered from a chronic heart disease and still being a high school student. His father died last year and he really had a hard time coping with the loss. We’re really lucky to not have to deal with stuff like that. The poor boy is completely drowning in work. I asked him about school, he’s a very good student, one of the best in his year. He said he was aiming to get a scholarship at the local university”, she took another bite of her dish.  
Suddenly her eyes went wide and she quickly swallowed her food,  
“Oh! Tooru! I almost forgot. You talked to my friend today, didn’t you? She called. She went on and on about my good boy. I can be so proud of you for being such a smart kid”, she said, leaning over the table to ruffle his brown locks.  
He chuckled, at her actions, thinking about how much he loved her cheerful self, her bright smile, the wrinkles underneath her eyes, that showed how much she actually laughed. He loved how people told him they looked similar, like his teacher did, because he was proud of being her son. His mother was the most lovable person on earth. He never even thought of dodging her hand when she tried to pet his head or run her fingers through his hair, it was a given she’d do that whenever she praised him.  
“Thanks, but I’m not really that great, mom. We learned most of the things in Tokyo already. It’s like a small head start, really no big deal.”  
She just smiled at him, shaking her head,  
“I was sure you’d say that, it’s so like you. Oh well…anyway, do you want some more”, she asked pointing at a bowl filled with rice.  
They finished eating and did the dishes together before Oikawa ran upstairs to his room, closed the door behind him and lay down on his temporary bed.  
He took his almost completely charged phone off the charger and checked his messages for any sign of life from his friends back in Tokyo.  
He was glad they didn’t spam him as much as usual but at the same time relieved to have received a few new messages, typing out quick responses to all of them.  
Then he got up and walked over to the bathroom, quickly brushing his teeth and running a hand through his wild hair, it had gotten worse again, not surprisingly, since he had spent a few hours on the couch watching Netflix.  
He really did look awful.  
Walking back to his room and past the towers of boxes, which he didn’t feel like unpacking, he yawned and sat down on his air mattress.  
He opened his laptop and decided to watch another episode of his favorite show, knowing that he was just going to fall asleep somewhere in the middle.  
The next morning was pretty much like any other Tuesday morning. Oikawa got dressed, almost tripped over a pile of school books, brushed his teeth, ate breakfast with his mom, kissed her on the cheek and waved her goodbye, made his way to the, not as packed, train, got off and walked to school.  
Not very surprisingly, Matsukawa and Hanamaki were already waiting for him at the school gate.  
Oikawa didn’t want to ask the shorter one about his limp. He doubted it had something to do with a foot injury.  
His first class was math again so he and Matsukawa left Makki to find Iwaizumi, but not before Matsukawa kissed him and Oikawa turned away awkwardly.  
“I don’t care about PDA”, Matsukawa said, walking past the brunette and lightly slapping him on the shoulder in the process, “Get it in that beautiful head of yours already.”  
Math was over in no time. Kuroo was absent.  
Even though Mattsun told Oikawa not to worry about the raven, he ended up worrying anyway.  
His next class was music and Oikawa was a little afraid since both Matsukawa and Hanamaki didn’t take that class. They had both decided on art class instead, meaning he was left alone with the rest of the students, who he didn’t really know at all. Or at least that’s what he thought.  
He was positively surprised when he spotted familiar spiky hair in the crowd.  
At first he wasn’t sure how to approach him. He couldn’t just go there like ‘Hey Iwa-chan, I don’t have any friends and I’m socially awkward, which means I’m too scared to talk to anyone beside you’ while stuttering this whole time. He couldn’t. So he just stood there, awkwardly staring at him until the other turned his head in Oikawa’s direction and smiled at him before making his way through the crowd to stand next to him.  
“Oikawa? I know it’s probably not easy for you to approach others, since you’re kinda like the new kid? I mean I don’t really know, but I guess that’s why you keep staring at me? Look, it’s really not like I mind”, he seemed sincere, “but I feel like, since we’re uhh- since we’re friends, you might want to just come over and talk to me like you’ve known me for years? I just don’t want this to be awkward to be honest.”  
Oikawa nodded slowly, giving the boy an apologetic smile,  
“You’re right, sorry for staring at you.” (And sorry for making it awkward by calling you Iwa-chan yesterday.)  
The class went quiet as the teacher entered the room.  
“Today”, the old slightly gray haired man announced, “you will be forming groups of three based on your skills to perform at the annual school festival. Who is absent?”  
After the man had checked the attendance, he was quick to continue his lesson.  
First he asked who could play an instrument; Oikawa raised his hand a little too low, making Iwa push it up a bit.  
The teacher talked to him about his instrument, trying to get to know the boy a little better and asked if he could play a quick piece after class, to which Oikawa agreed.  
When it was time to form groups, Iwaizumi suggested for Oikawa to join his group, along with a petite, brown haired girl, who had been a friend of Iwa’s for a while. She seemed rather pleased to be in his group, all the while dropping small hints that she liked the raven more than just as a friend, making Oikawa slightly restless. The theme for this year’s school festival was “romance”, which Tooru liked a lot anyway, he was a sap and had always been one. In a way, he blamed his helplessly romantic mother for it. Their group got assigned a piece by Beyoncé, all three of them a little surprised by the song, “Crazy in Love”.  
After listening to it twice, Iwaizumi turned to Oikawa asking if he thought he was able to play the song on the piano, Oikawa nodding eagerly in response. He loved playing and he loved music, he didn’t care of what genre. At that moment Oikawa didn’t think much of the two others singing a duet. It was clear to him, that the girl was a good singer and they needed a female vocalist. He felt himself getting nervous when he thought about playing in front of Iwaizumi, in front of a big audience. He couldn’t help but think about what Iwa’s part was in this. He was obviously going to sing. Just thinking about him singing made Oikawa grow tense.  
“I-Iwaizumi”, he interrupted the two reading their lines, “I’m sorry, you can continue.”  
“Ah no, we’re pretty much finished”, the other male replied, wanting Oikawa to ask his question.  
“I just wanted to ask…you can sing?”  
Iwaizumi chuckled amused, rubbing the back of his neck, “I mean I think I can”, he turned to the girl, a faint blush on his cheeks.  
“Are you serious? He’s amazing! Honestly one of the best singers I know! His voice is so smooth but raspy at the same time and you can practically feel the emotion he puts into his singing.”  
At this point Iwa was hiding his deep red face in his hands, making Oikawa laugh.  
“If that’s the case”, he said, looking at the girl from the corner of his eyes, “Would you mind giving me an example after class? I’m staying longer to play for the teacher anyway so I might as well play our song.”  
“Sure”, Iwa said, his answer being short and muffled due to his hands still being pressed against his face.  
Oikawa turned to the girl asking her if she wanted to join, but she simply waved him off, stating she had to meet her friends after class, albeit not trying to hide the harsh sound of her words.  
Oikawa wasn’t going to admit that he was happy she declined.  
They talked about the school festival for a bit, Oikawa looking through the note sheets carefully.  
When the bell rang to signal their first big break, the two boys stayed behind to follow the teacher to the piano.  
Oikawa settled down comfortably, arranging his notes while Iwaizumi took a seat next to him.  
The teacher asked them about what song they were performing and was delighted to hear that they wanted to play the song that had been assigned to them.  
He motioned for the two to start, Oikawa shifting in his seat, nervousness rising up to form a lump in his throat, while he placed his hands on the piano keys carefully.  
He had played the first few notes when Iwa started to sing, his voice deep and soothing. Oikawa felt his cheeks burn up, but continued playing cleanly nonetheless.  
A few seconds into the song, Oikawa managed to glance in the boy’s direction, his eyes meeting Iwa’s, as if the boy had been staring at him from the start. That was the moment Oikawa felt goose bumps on his skin. He missed a key but was quick to regain his composure. He was blushing madly by the time Iwaizumi got to the chorus. They continued to play and without thinking about it Oikawa started to sing the girl’s part. He didn’t miss to see the fond expression on the other boy’s face in the corner of his eye.  
For a second, Tooru forgot about his stage fright, the teacher, he forgot about the awkward moment he had shared with the other boy the day before. It was just the two of them, voices beautifully mixing together to create a perfect harmony, accompanied by the silent sound of a piano playing in the distance. It was just him and Iwaizumi, singing together in an old music room, in front of an old instrument.  
Oikawa played the last note on his sheet, the room falling into a dull silence. The teacher was the first to break it, clapping his hands together, applauding the two.  
Oikawa looked up from the papers, secretly hoping to meet Iwa’s green eyes for a second time, but found himself frowning when he noticed the boy was looking at the teacher instead.  
“Oikawa is really, really good”, the raven said, a hint of pride in his voice, “He can definitely pull this off, Sir.”  
“I heard”, the old man smiled at them, “Oikawa-kun, I want you and Iwaizumi to sing a second duet together.”  
The boys looked at each other in surprise,  
“Sir, I don’t think Oikawa wants-“, Iwaizumi was about to protest, but the teacher cut him off,  
“Oikawa wants to do it as much as you do, you can hear it in his voice. He wouldn’t have taken over the girl’s part if he didn’t care about it otherwise.”  
“No. I mean, no Sir, I really can’t. I’d rather not, honestly. I don’t mind playing the piano but I really don’t want to sing.”  
The old man turned his head from one of them to the other before speaking up again,  
“Are you sure? It would be such a waste, you sounded really great together just now”, he sighed in frustration, but dismissed them anyway.  
After having packed their stuff, the boys excused themselves and walked out of the music room.  
“I’m sorry for just taking her part, I’m really in no position to do that”, the brunette apologized, when they were walking along the halls toward the art room.  
Iwaizumi looked up at him and sighed, a smile displayed on his face,  
“Are you really going to apologize for beautifully singing a duet with me”, he asked laying an arm around the other, “You really are something, Oikawa.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So everyone, since, I assume, most of the people reading this fic are not from my Instagram, you weren't informed of a small change. I did not manage to post a chapter yesterday because of some personal stuff going on, which is also why I've decided to change my posting schedule from every Tuesday to every Wednesday! Sorry for the delay on this chapter, I hope it being a little longer can make up for it. As always, I'd love to receive constructive criticism in the comments or just some ideas of what you think will happen in the next chapter ;)

“Makki”, the tall boy whined, burying his head in his boyfriend’s chest, “They literally met yesterday and are already more couple-goals than us. They sang a duet together, Makki, a damn duet. This is so unfair!”  
“Guys, please stop acting as if we were a couple”, Iwaizumi looked up from his plate, sending death glares in the couple’s direction.  
Matsukawa grinned at Iwaizumi for a few seconds, clearly preparing a remark,  
“Oh please, we all know Oikawa’s hot, so you might want to reconsider acting all tough and disgustingly straight.”  
That shut Iwaizumi up for the rest of lunch.  
They had another class afterwards, Geography, which passed slowly.  
Oikawa was glad the bell rang before he could find anything sharp enough to first stab Matsukawa, who had been pestering him about Iwaizumi the entire time, and later himself.  
They waited outside for the other two to finish class and when the couple had said their goodbyes and left, Oikawa and Iwaizumi walked toward the school gate.  
“Well I guess you don’t have another doctor’s appointment today, do you?”  
“I don’t. But would you mind walking with me anyway? I don’t have anything to do and I enjoyed talking yesterday”, Iwa smiled genuinely at him.  
“I don’t mind at all. I did really enjoy talking to you too”, the taller boy answered, his lips too, forming a shy smile.  
Just like the day before, the walk was spent talking about all kinds of things.  
“About lunch…I’m sorry, those two can really be annoying. I completely understand if you want me to talk to them about it.”  
Oikawa looked up from his feet, his eyebrows pulled together,  
“I don’t exactly mind. It’s their way of having fun, isn’t it? It’s not like I can say I have a girlfriend…or have ever had one”, he mumbled.  
Iwaizumi looked at him in surprise,  
“Wait what? You’ve never dated a girl before? How can someone like you, I mean, you are good looking, how can someone like you not have been in a relationship before?”  
“I, uhh, I have been in a relationship before. Just, uhm, not with a girl”, it sounded like he was asking Iwaizumi, more than telling him.  
The raven looked a little shocked at first, but then sighed and smiled at him,  
“I see. I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable; I really should think more before I speak.”  
“N-No! No. I mean, I would have had to tell you sooner or later. I guess it was easier this way”, he glanced at Iwaizumi from the corner of his eye, checking if his expression had changed.  
The shorter male was still smiling softly at him, which made Oikawa feel warm inside.  
“It’s just that I’d rather not have the others make a big deal out of it.”  
“Of course not”, Iwa laughed, “We really wouldn’t want that.”  
They walked for a bit before Iwa spoke up,  
“You- uhm, I mean we have to turn right there don’t we?”  
Oikawa almost laughed at the ‘we’ part. There was something about his new friend that was different from Mattsun and Makki; and it was not the fact that he didn’t make stupid, perverted jokes 24/7.  
“Would you like to come in”, Oikawa asked Iwa once they stood in front of his apartment’s door.  
“Gladly”, the other smiled politely, reminding Oikawa that he didn’t have to be home anytime soon.  
They stepped inside, quickly taking off their shoes and making their way to the living room; Iwa looking around like he was scanning the area for traps.  
“Is green tea okay?”  
“Yeah, thank you.”  
When the tea was done, Oikawa handed his friend the cup and motioned him to walk up the stairs, earning an amazed ‘a second floor?’ from Iwa.  
Iwaizumi waited in front of the brunette’s room, not daring to open the door.  
“What are you waiting for, this is the one”, Tooru chuckled, “I’m not hiding anything, I just don’t have a proper bed yet. I hope you don’t mind an air mattress.”  
Iwaizumi shook his head, slowly opening the door.  
“You have a nice room. I mean it’s still really plain, but the natural lighting is nice”, the raven said, placing his cup on Tooru’s desk.  
Oikawa felt his heart race again,  
“You can sit down on the chair too if you want. I mean you can sit wherever you want. It’s your choice”, he laughed, his voice laced with a hint of nervousness.  
Iwa sat down on the mattress, patting the free space next to him, asking Oikawa to sit down there.  
Once they were both settled the shorter one lay back, looking at the ceiling for a bit before closing his eyes.  
“Wanna play 20 questions?”  
“I don’t know that game.”  
“Really? It’s exactly what the name says. We both ask one question at a time and the other has to answer truthfully. It’ll help us get to know each other better, alright?”  
“I guess”, Tooru mumbled, not too keen of the idea.  
Iwaizumi turned to lie on his side, facing the still upright sitting brown haired.  
“When’s your birthday?”  
“July 20th. Yours?”  
“Oh uhh June 10th. We’re not too far apart”, he smiled, “well, you asked your question, if unconsciously, so it’s my turn now.”  
Oikawa frowned, knowing Hajime was right about the fact that he hadn’t even noticed he was asking his question.  
“Do you have a pet?”  
“No, we had a cat back in Tokyo, but we left it at my dad’s place.”  
Iwaizumi nodded, looking at him expectantly.  
“Do you have siblings?”  
“I do, an older brother. He’s my dad’s first son, from an earlier marriage, though.”  
Iwa stretched, his shirt lifting, revealing the rim of his pants and a bit of skin, before asking another question.  
“Are your parents still together?”  
Oikawa was a little taken aback by the question, it wasn’t really a question that had to do with him in particular, but he answered anyway,  
“No, I’ve just recently moved in with my mom, and, well, we moved here. I won’t get to see my dad and sister a lot anymore, but it’s fine. Things just didn’t work out for my parents.”  
They continued asking rather simple questions for a while until they’d both reached the seventeenth.  
It was Iwaizumi’s turn to ask now,  
“Okay uhm, this one is a little weird, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. So, uhh, have you ever had any kind of same sex experience, kissing for example”, now Hajime seemed a little nervous, probably thinking he was making Oikawa uncomfortable, “I mean you said you were in a relationship before, so I figured you might have-“  
“No. I have never kissed another guy. You might think it’s weird for me to know I’m gay but I guess I just don’t feel attracted to girls at all.”  
“So, uhh, you’ve never done it with another guy either?”  
“Never. Back then, my boyfriend, uhm, Wakatoshi, and I, we never did anything. I think we were just experimenting with our feelings or something.”  
“What about you?”  
“I haven’t”, he said, looking into Oikawa’s eyes, a small hint of red dusting his cheeks,  
“I haven’t been in a relationship either. You might want to ask Makki and Mattsun for advice if you ever plan on doing things”, he laughed.  
Oikawa felt like his heart was going to escape from his chest, that’s how hard it was beating.  
“That doesn’t sound like a good idea, if you asked me. When it comes to experience, though, I’d say you’re right”, he chuckled, his eyes not moving off Iwa’s green orbs, “It’s your turn.”  
“Ah yes”, he paused for a moment, thinking of a question, when his eyes got wide, “Your leg! What happened to your leg, that makes you unable to walk for long?”  
Oikawa felt a lump form in his throat, his voice sounded raspy and a little sore when he spoke again,  
“I used to play volleyball a lot when I was a kid. One time I hurt my knee pretty bad and had to undergo surgery twice. They managed to fix a lot but I still haven’t fully recovered. There’s a pretty ugly scar there too, from my first surgery”, he managed to smile a little at Iwaizumi.  
“Do you, uhh, do you mind showing me the scar? I mean only if it’s okay! I swear this is not some weird kink! Oh my god what am I even saying”, he awkwardly ran a hand through his black hair.  
Oikawa laughed and took ahold of it before he could let it drop to his side completely.  
He pulled up his pants, just enough to reveal the scar and ran Iwaizumi’s hand over his skin.  
“I know it’s ugly. I told you. But my mom likes to call it a battle scar, telling me it shows how brave and strong I am.”  
“That’s beautiful”, Iwaizumi now whispered, gently tracing the scar with his index finger.  
He pulled his hand back, hesitantly looking up at Oikawa and slowly getting up.  
“I think I should go now. Let’s continue the game another time, sounds good?”  
Oikawa nodded dumbfoundedly, getting up as well,  
“Did I do something wrong?”  
“No you didn’t. I just feel like it would be better if I went home now. Thanks for today, though, it was fun.”  
He walked over to the door stopping in front of Tooru’s desk and leaning over it to write something on a loose piece of paper.  
“See you tomorrow Oikawa, I can show myself out, you don’t have to.”  
Tooru stood in the middle of his room, not moving an inch, he thought if he did, Iwa would get mad at him. He felt as if the boy really didn’t want him to follow.  
After a while he caught himself glancing over at his desk. He moved slowly, as if he wasn’t sure what to expect. Iwaizumi’s mood had changed so quickly.  
He reluctantly picked up the paper reading the two short words on it that made his heart flutter:  
Text me. #######  
They were so simple. But they were enough to completely and utterly confuse him.  
\--------------------  
The next day at lunch, Oikawa couldn’t bring himself to look at Iwaizumi.  
Not like he could anyway; he was dead tired, having stayed up all night, agonizing over what made the boy leave so suddenly the day before, he had to fight for his eyes to stay open.  
That’s what he did, as much as he hated it, it’s something he couldn't help.  
He ended up getting about three hours of sleep in total.  
Which resulted in Matsukawa having to wake him up twice in math class and the teacher glancing at him, clearly surprised by how silent he was.  
“-kawa, Oikawa!”  
“What? Oh no I’m so sorry!”  
Makki looked at him pitifully,  
“Listen, I don’t know what, or who, kept you up last night, but you’ve been spacing out all day, man.”  
The brunette just sighed as an answer.  
Hanamaki got up, taking Oikawa’s bag,  
“That’s it, you’re coming with me to the nurse. You’ve got to be a real big idiot going to school like this”, he said, pulling Oikawa along with him.  
The boy wanted to protest but found himself too tired to function properly and let the other drag him all the way to the nurse’s office.  
“Come in”, an elderly woman welcomed them with a knowing smile, “What do we have here? Poor boy, you look exhausted. Have exams started already”, she asked in a joking matter.  
Hanamaki let Oikawa drop down on a white bed next to a partly opened window, before speaking up in his place,  
“No, of course they haven’t, but he’s had a long night, didn’t get much sleep. Our next class is PE and he’s not allowed to participate, because of an injury, so I figured he could use the time to sleep here for a bit”, the strawberry blonde stated, all the while asking the woman for permission.  
The nurse just turned around to look at the brunet, whose eyes were shut already.  
“Seems like we have no choice but to let him get the sleep he needs”, she smiled at Hanamaki, “Just come here once your class is over and we’ll go from there.”  
Makki thanked her and walked out, leaving Tooru to sleep in the office.

Almost two hours had past when Oikawa was woken up by a hand gently stroking his hair.  
He slowly opened one eye to peek at the person, sitting on a chair beside him.  
“Iwa-chan”, he smiled up at the raven, who immediately pulled his hand back.  
“Oikawa, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to-“  
Oikawa’s hand was lightly grabbing his wrist, the boy’s eyes were closed again.  
“Don’t leave, Iwa-chan. Stay with me”, he sleepily mumbled, “Don’t leave again.”  
Even though Oikawa was close to passing out again, he felt the boy’s fingers run through his hair and a warm comfortable feeling spread throughout his body.  
“Oikawa”, he heard the male whisper, “I know you’re tired, but you have to get up. The others already left”, Iwa said, his hands shakily brushing a strand of milk-chocolate brown hair out of the sleeping one’s face.  
Oikawa’s eyes now both opened,  
“Iwaizumi”, he sat up, his heart suddenly leaping in his chest, “How long have you been trying to wake me up?”  
Iwaizumi shook his head, pushing the boy down on the bed again,  
“No more than five minutes. Don’t worry about it, school’s over, you only missed PE, so it’s no big deal.”  
Tooru instantly relaxed, but turned to hide his face in his pillow, not wanting Iwaizumi to notice the visible blush on his cheeks.  
He tried to speak, but his words came out as a silent mumble and Oikawa wasn’t sure if Iwaizumi heard him at all,  
“Did I say anything embarrassing?”  
He felt a weight on the bed next to him and Iwa sighed,  
“Not really. Just incoherent mumbling.”  
Oikawa turned to face him, his own not being as red anymore.  
He looked down to Iwaizumi’s hand, that was clutching the sheets of his bed.  
“Oika-”, he started but quickly closed his mouth, looking away from the brunet.  
“What is it?”  
“It’s nothing, sorry.”  
“Why don’t you just say what you want to say? I won’t get upset, you know.”  
“You- ahh, I mean, you don’t have to answer, honestly, you don’t, but uhm, I wanted to ask what kept you up last night”, he was visibly shaking, his hands balling to fists around the sheets.  
Oikawa chuckled, facepalming,  
“Do you really think I had a hot one-night-stand?”  
Iwaizumi’s eyes went wide, his face turning red in embarrassment,  
“O-Of course not!”  
Tooru laughed at him, shifting on the bed,  
“I see. Well, there’s no need to worry, I did not spend my night doing inappropriate things with anyone, as Makki suggested.”  
“That’s really not what I thought”, the raven mumbled.  
“I just had trouble falling asleep. I’m sorry for worrying you guys, I promise it won’t happen again.”  
“You’re sure there was nothing in particular that kept you up?”  
Now Oikawa looked a little distressed, his brows slightly furrowed,  
“No.”  
Iwaizumi looked like he didn’t believe him and Oikawa knew he had all the right to do so.  
“Oikawa listen, I feel really bad about it. I just left so suddenly and seemingly without reason. But there was. This is going to sound like more of an excuse, and honestly, that’s probably what it is, but when I touched your skin I felt you shiver. Like, you were shaking. And even though you were the one who took my hand, I couldn’t get the thought out of my head that you didn’t want it. I felt like I was completely overstepping my boundaries, one after another. I talked you into walking home with me, I agreed to come to your house, to your room. I even made you play that stupid game.”  
Oikawa’s mouth dropped when the other finished and he felt the heat rise to his cheeks again,  
“You thought you were overstepping your boundaries?”  
“Well, yeah, I guess.”  
Oikawa chuckled at the insecurity in Iwaizumi’s voice. He found it amusing how he seemingly wasn’t the only one to worry about what happened.  
“Thank you.”  
Iwaizumis lips twitched upward, as he ran a hand through his black hair,  
“No need to thank me for being a decent human being, y’know.”  
“If what you’re doing is just being decent, then you’re doing an extraordinarily great job at it.”  
Iwa just shrugged, but the bright smile on his face gave away that he liked being praised, which Oikawa decided to remember for possible future usage.  
“Let’s just go, I need to get groceries on my way back. Actually, do you mind joining me?”  
Oikawa looked out of the window, his hand on his chin as if he were trying to solve a complicated math problem in his head, before smiling at Iwaizumi again,  
“Sure, I’ll come with you-”,  
Iwa chuckled at his actions,  
“Only if you go to physical therapy with me afterwards.”  
“That’s right your knee. I’m just gonna carry you the whole time.”  
Oikawa laughed at that and nodded,  
“I’d really like to see that”, he teased, rubbing at his eyes, “but alright, sounds like a good idea.”  
Iwaizumi chuckled, getting up, Oikawa following suit.  
But before the brunette even stood straight, Iwaizumi picked him up bridal style, not showing any sign of having difficulties.  
“Iwa-chan! Let me down! I didn’t mean it”, he was struggling in his arms, but Iwaizumi didn’t look like he was going to set him down any time soon.  
“That’s for making fun of me, you idiot. Didn’t think I could pick such a lanky guy up, did you”, now it was Hajime’s turn to laugh,  
“Now come on, princess we should get going.”  
“What? No! No, no we’re not going out there like this”, he looked terrified, “They’re all going to laugh at us!”  
“Let them laugh if they want”, Iwa said, his arm wrapping tighter around the struggling boy’s shoulders.  
Right when he had given up, knowing his struggles were to no avail, and they’d stepped out of the nurse’s office, the woman came walking down the hallway, chuckling at the two’s state.  
“Hold on tight! We don’t want you to get hurt now! Watch out, Iwaizumi-kun”, she patted Iwaizumi on the shoulder when she passed them, walking into her office and closing the door behind her.  
“Does everyone here know you by name”, Oikawa asked, a frown on his face.  
“I think most do, yes. After all, it’s part of my job as the student’s representative to build a strong relationship to the other students, teachers and staff”, he replied cheekily.  
Oikawa wanted to retort something but he already heard the chuckles and whispers coming from the people around them.  
“Iwaizumi”, he whined into the raven’s ear, burying his face into his white jacket, trying to hide the mad red blush on his face.  
“Iwaizumi”, a stern voice from behind startled them, the name suddenly sounding a lot different.  
At first Oikawa believed it to be a teacher, but when Iwa addressed him as calmly as ever, he realized that it had to be another student.  
“Sawamura-san”, he heard Iwa talk to the boy, who was a stranger to Oikawa. For a second he forgot he was being carried, wondering if he had ever even seen this Sawamura guy, but was soon pulled back to reality when he heard some girls laugh behind them.  
He didn’t dare to turn to face them so he just pressed his nose deeper into Iwa’s neck.  
“Am I supposed to ask why you’re carrying a tall guy or-”, he trailed off laughing.  
“Nah, he’s tired, right Oikawa?”  
“Fuck you, Iwa-chan.”  
The stranger chuckled, “Iwa-chan?”  
Oikawa’s head jerked back looking at the smiling boy, his hand quickly covering his mouth, like the first time he accidentally called him that name.  
Iwaizumi laughed, pressing Oikawa’s head back into the crook of his neck, “Long story”, Oikawa could hear the smile in his voice, but couldn’t be bothered with it, because the other’s right hand was still holding his head firmly, his arm was supporting Oikawa’s shoulders.  
“Do you need help carrying the worksheets to the teacher’s room”, Oikawa felt Iwaizumi’s hand move from his head and was totally blaming Sawamura for it.  
“No”, the boy answered amusedly, “I’m meeting up with Koushi later at the mall, you want to come with us?”  
Iwa shook his head, “I can’t, I already have plans for today.”  
Oikawa’s heart jumped at his words, his right hand now holding onto the ravens shoulder.  
“Oh, well okay then, see you tomorrow”, the shorter boy slapped Oikawa’s back lightly before turning left and walking up a big set of stairs that lead up to the storage rooms.  
Iwaizumi walked for a bit longer, not setting Oikawa down, before he stopped in front of the school’s doors.  
“You’re not even nearly as heavy as I expected you to be. You’re like, what, 185cm?”  
Oikawa was breathing slowly, his breath tickling Iwaizumi’s skin every time he let it out.  
The brunette smiled, closing his eyes, taking in Iwa’s scent. He smelled unexpectedly sweet. Oikawa had always thought buff guys were supposed to smell sweaty and manly, not like freshly baked apple tart.  
“Not exactly, but I get your point, I’m not short and buff like you”, he laughed, receiving a slap on the back of his head by the other.  
“Iwa! That hurt”, he whined, “You’re not being very decent right now.”  
Iwaizumi laughed it off and told Oikawa to get on his back, because it was easier to give him a piggyback ride, rather than carrying him bridal style for the rest of the way.  
Iwa laughed a lot at how Oikawa, despite telling him several times, that carrying him wasn’t necessary, enjoyed himself like a kid.  
When they arrived at a small shop, hidden inside an alleyway, they were greeted by a woman, around the age of Oikawa’s mom, who was carrying two middle sized boxes under her right arm and a clipboard in her left hand.  
“Hajime-kun! How are you today?”  
“I’m great, thank you, Makoto-san”, he nodded his head back toward the boy on his back,  
“That’s my friend Oikawa, he just moved here.”  
“Nice to meet you”, Oikawa chimed; he was in a good mood, maybe even a little outgoing.  
“Nice to meet you too, Oikawa-kun, feel free to look around my shop, you two. Your order was delivered just now”, she said, pointing at the top box under her arm.  
She went over to the cash desk and swiftly cutting the brown tape with a cutter-knife, she opened the box.  
Iwa set Oikawa down laughing at the displeased expression on the brunette’s face, before turning toward the woman.  
Oikawa decided to go and look through the shop, eyeing the shelves filled with different spices and kinds of ramen.  
A few minutes later he heard Iwa call for him.  
The raven gave a white bag to Oikawa, telling him to carry it, so that he could carry him.  
They still had about half an hour until they had to be at the physiologist’s so they didn’t have to hurry, despite having to take the train to get there.  
Luckily the train wasn’t packed, but Oikawa insisted for Iwa to set him down since he didn’t want them to fall whenever the train sped up or slowed down.  
They arrived at the doctor’s office five minutes early and Oikawa was glad there weren’t many people beside them.  
“Are you alright”, Iwa looked over at the slightly shivering boy next to him.  
Oikawa just nodded, continuing to bite his lip.  
“Oikawa stop”, he said, taking a hold of the brunette’s hand, starting to rub reassuring circles on the back of it, “You’ll be alright. I’m here, calm down.”  
“Iwa- I’m scared.”  
“I know.”  
“I’m scared. I want to go back to my old doctor. She was really nice and I’ve known her forever and-“  
“Shh, it’s okay. You’re not alone. I’m here to support you.”  
The taller let his head fall onto the raven’s shoulder, sighing deeply.  
“Thank you. You’re right. There’s nothing to be afraid of”, another sigh, “You’re here.”  
Iwa looked over at him, watching the boy’s eyes flutter shut.  
He noticed the long, thick, black lashes, the light purple bags under his eyes, the way his eyebrows arched ever so slightly above them, the clenched jaw and sharp jawline, that was covered by his smooth, pale, porcelain-like skin.  
Even if Oikawa looked stressed, anxious, he still looked calm in a way and Iwaizumi didn’t want to stop scanning his face for any signs of distress, to watch every movement of Oikawa’s eyes under his closed lids.  
Unfortunately, those eyes shot open only a few minutes later, when a nurse called him up.  
Iwa still held onto the other’s hand as they walked into a small room, until a middle aged man motioned for Oikawa to sit down and they let go.  
Oikawa just then realized what it must’ve looked like; him holding another boy’s hand; and that he was going to come here twice a week, probably until he moved out, knowing that they saw them.  
But those thoughts were soon pushed away by a white-glove-covered hand being stretched out to him.  
He reluctantly shook it, quickly glancing over at Iwaizumi, who smiled at him.  
“Oikawa-san, or is Oikawa, okay? We’re going to see each other a lot more, so I want you to be as comfortable as possible.”  
“Oikawa is fine.”  
“Okay, Oikawa, so…I assume you know why you’re here, so I won’t tell you much about it. I received all the needed information from your doctor back in Tokyo, so there’s no need to worry about that. I’m just going to check up on your knee today, make you move around a little and then you’re free to go, alright? I don’t intend to keep you here for longer than necessary”, he laughed and Oikawa noticed the wrinkles under his eyes, indicating that the man does really laugh a lot, which made him a lot more sympathetic.  
Nonetheless, the boy felt himself not quite relaxed, but nodded anyway, biting down on his lip again.  
Iwaizumi’s hand gently squeezed Oikawa’s shoulder, trying to tell him he doesn’t have to be nervous.  
Oikawa understood. His new doctor was not as bad as he had expected.  
He heard Iwa breathe out silently as the man revealed his scar.  
Oikawa was shivering slightly as his hand made its way to grip the bottom of Iwa’s jacket.  
“Okay, I see”, the doctor said, tracing a hand over the delicate, damaged skin on Oikawa’s knee, “I think we should just start off with some basic movements and then work our way to more complicated stuff and put up a plan for you.”  
\----------------------  
The session went by faster than the boys had expected and so they found themselves walking toward the train station.  
“It’s gotten a lot colder”, Iwa said, glancing over at Oikawa, who by now looked very exhausted.  
The brunet looked back when he noticed that the raven had stopped in his tracks.  
“Iwa-“  
“Come here for a second”, the other said, making a hand motion to emphasize his request.  
Oikawa looked confused, but obeyed and walked back to him.  
Before he could react, he felt the other lay his jacket around him in a swift motion.  
“You did well today, Oikawa.”  
“Thank you for coming here with me”, he whispered back, “I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.”  
“No, that’s not true. I was just there so you wouldn't bite your lip so hard it starts to bleed”, he teased, receiving an annoyed look from Oikawa.  
The annoyance, however, didn’t last long as he and Iwaizumi started walking toward the train station, talking about a few underclassmen, who had managed to make a ruckus in the music room and almost broke a flute in the process. It didn’t take them long to get to the station and when Iwa got off at his stop, waving goodbye to his friend, the taller happily responded with a ‘Bye, Iwa-chan, see you tomorrow’.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Wednesday my dudes aAAhh. If you read this you've reached chapter 4, congrats for holding out lmao. I have to admit I almost never read through the chapters before I post them (I spent a rather long time going over them to get rid of most of my mistakes beforehand), so I really never remember what exactly happens in the chapters I post whoops. I think it's getting a little more comfy if you get me (no smut here though, sorry to disappoint). Anyway, I hope you still enjoy reading this cause it's so long, I honestly wouldn't blame you for giving up lol. However, if you decide to still try to keep up, thank you very much for reading!!

Oikawa got off at his own stop and made his way home, hurrying up just a tiny bit, so he wouldn’t be out of breath when he got home, getting his mom mad at him for not caring about his knee, especially right after a session at the physiologist.  
He only just realized he was still wearing Iwaizumi’s jacket when she asked him about its size at the door.  
“Iwaizumi lent me his jacket, cause I got cold, mom. It’s no big deal, I’ll bring it to school tomorrow.”  
He didn’t tell her about the fact that Iwaizumi went to the session with him, however, when they were talking about how their days had been later at dinner.  
He helped his mom to quickly wash the dishes, but didn’t stay for much longer, before he rushed upstairs to his room.  
He looked over to his desk, relieved to see that there was, in fact, the paper with Iwaizumi’s number on it and he hadn’t just imagined it.

You, 8:12pm  
I wanted to thank you again, for today.

#####, 8:13pm  
Oikawa?

You, 8:13pm  
Yeah

#####, 8:13pm  
There’s no need to thank me, you know, you did really great today

You, 8:14pm  
Still, thank you for being there for me, I barely even noticed how you tried to reassure me because of how scared I was. It helped though

Iwa, 8:16pm  
I’m glad. I’ll see you tomorrow? Go to bed early tonight, no hot one night stands.

You, 8:16pm  
Of course not~

Iwa, 8:17pm  
Sleep well, Trashykawa

You, 8:17pm  
Mean. Nut yeah I will, Iwa-chan

You, 8:17pm  
**BUT omg

When Oikawa walked out of his apartment the next morning, he was surprised to see a certain, raven haired boy leaning against the wall of the building, waiting for him.  
“Iwa-chan?”  
“Oh! Morning ‘kawa”, he said, yawning, “Ready to go?”  
“I uhh- yeah, what are you doing here?”  
“I felt like picking you up”, he responded, awkwardly running a hand through his, a lot less spiky, almost messy looking black hair.  
“How much earlier did you have to get up? You look terrible, to word it nicely”, the brunet asked as they were walking toward the train station.  
“Ah, well, getting up wasn’t the problem. I went to bed late last night.”  
“Iwa-chan”, Oikawa whined, dragging the ‘a’ out to emphasize his disappointment, “You promised to go to sleep early!”  
The shorter just nodded guiltily.  
\--------------------  
When they reached the school gate, they soon met Makki and Mattsun, Kuroo was still absent and it just made Oikawa worry about him more.  
Interrupting the couple’s teasing about the two walking together, Oikawa spoke up,  
“Mattsun, would you mind telling me Kuroo’s address? I’d like to make sure he’s okay, you know.”  
“Oh Oikawa, you’re so naïve”, the tall teen laughed, “Do you really think Kuroo isn’t just skipping class? Come on, even you should have figured that out by now.”  
“Can I at least get his phone number”, Oikawa asked, waving his phone in front of the other’s face.  
Mattsun sighed, taking Oikawa’s phone from his hand and adding a new contact.  
“Thank you very much”, he said sarcastically.  
“ThaNk yOU VeRY mUCh”, was the answer he got.  
“Babe, you’re such a meme.”  
Oikawa didn’t dare to look back when he heard Makki’s muffled laughs and apparently Iwa felt the same way.  
“I dON’t cAre ABoUt PdAaA.”  
“Oh no”, Iwa said, turning towards Oikawa, eyes wide in disbelief at what the brunette had just said,  
“Please, Oikawa, I beg of you, never ever say stuff like that again, you’re scaring me.”  
“What”, the boy laughed, “You’re worried I’ll end up like those two”, he asked pointing behind him.  
“Yes, absolutely terrified.”  
They joked for a while before Iwaizumi and Hanamaki had to leave for their classes.  
“Mattsun”, Oikawa smiled the most innocent smile he could manage, “You’re gross.”  
“Oi! You little-“  
Oikawa was fast enough to get to class before the other could catch him, mainly because he was able to avoid bumping into a bunch of students in the hall and getting yelled at by one of their professors.  
He was laughing and panting heavily when he let himself fall onto his chair.  
About 2 minutes later, when Matsukawa finally managed to reach the classroom, everyone jerked up at his voice,  
“Eh Oikawa, all those girls were looking at you like you were a god. What a shame you-“  
He was cut off by the teacher, who furiously slammed the door shut behind him,  
“Matsukawa Issei! If you don’t shut up, I’m going to make you stay in detention every day for the rest of the month!”  
The class was laughing, even Oikawa, who was still breathing heavily.  
“Oikawa-kun”, the teacher smirked at him, “That goes for you as well.”  
That shut the both of them up and they sat down in their seats, staying silent for the rest of the lesson.  
The month had pretty much just started and they really didn’t want to risk it.  
At lunch, they were both prepared for Iwaizumi to scold them, but to, mainly, Matsukawa’s surprise the student representative just told them not to fool around as much in the future.  
“Oikawa, he must really want to fuck you or else we’d both be dead now.”  
Iwaizumi’s head snapped toward the tall guy, his brows furrowing, “You really want to test me, don’t you?”  
Oikawa lightly kicked Iwa’s leg under the table when he realized that people were looking at them.  
The male turned to him, his facial features instantly softening.  
“Sorry”, he said, glancing over at Matsukawa, whose head was now comfortably resting on Hanamaki’s shoulder.  
They finished eating and separated to get back to class afterwards.  
The science teacher kept complaining about how much better it would be if Kuroo was there, which, as Mattsun kindly explained to Oikawa, was because Kuroo was actually a real smart-ass and he was also usually the one to teach science.  
Even though it was hard for Tooru to believe that Kuroo was, in fact, right when he said Oikawa didn’t know who he was talking to, a few days ago, he did understand that the boy didn’t want to tell him straightaway. Oikawa was going to find out sooner or later anyway and he was genuinely surprised to find out that the tall guy didn’t brag about it.  
“Is there more to Kuroo I should know about before you give me his address so I can check on him?”  
Mattsun sighed but gave in nonetheless.  
Ripping off the edge of the page he was currently writing on, he silently whispered to Oikawa,  
“Well, as you might have noticed, he’s a flirt. A hot one at that. It’s really a shame you couldn’t join us for PE last time, cause that boy has an amazing body. And no, you don’t have to tell Makki that I said that, because at night we cry over Kuroo’s abs together, so he knows…Anyway”, he added, scribbling an address onto the piece of paper, “He’s also really damn intelligent. He might not look like it, but it’s true. His humor is great too, so that’s another important thing. Oh yeah, he doesn’t style his hair, like you, or Iwa. And don’t look at me like that, I know you don’t wake up this gorgeous.”  
Oikawa couldn’t argue on that one, he really did try hard not to look like a dead person every morning.  
Oikawa took the piece of paper and thanked Mattsun, when the bell rang to signal the end of class and therefore the end of the school day for the two and their friends.  
They met the other two at the school’s door, along with a bunch of other students.  
It was raining hard and everyone stayed inside waiting for the downfall to lessen.  
“Oh come on”, Makki sighed pressing his face against the cold glass door,  
“How are we supposed to get home without getting wet now?”  
Mattsun smirked, hastily kissing the nape of his boyfriend’s neck,  
“You aren’t”, he purred, earning a soft chuckle from Makki.  
“Guys”, Iwa pushed through the crowd, the others following behind him,  
“I’m gonna make a run for it. I don’t know about you but Oikawa could do that too, since he’s going to Kuroo’s house, it’s not far.”  
The couple looked at each other, seemingly thinking the same thing.  
“I think we’ll stay here for a bit longer. We have quite a distance to walk and I don’t wanna die”, Makki decided, Mattsun nodding his head in agreement.  
“Alright”, Iwa looked at Oikawa, thinking about lending the jacket, he got back this morning , to him again.  
“Let’s go”, the brunette held up both thumbs, grinning.  
When they opened the big glass doors, they were hit by a gush of cold air, making them shiver.  
They started running as soon as they stepped out into the rain.  
Oikawa shrieked every time he stepped into a puddle, making Iwa turn his head to look at the childish boy, an awed expression on his face.  
They were almost at the crossroad, where Oikawa had bumped into Iwa a few days prior, and by the time they got there, they were both drenched, laughing cheerfully.  
They found shelter under the roof of an old bus stop, the water dripping from the wet strands of light brown hair that were sticking to Oikawa’s forehead.  
Their eyes met when Iwa brushed the hair out of the boy’s face tenderly, his fingers lingering on the other’s temple for a few seconds.  
The raven’s eyes went wide at the way Oikawa eagerly leaned into his touch, closing his eyes.  
“We made it”, he breathed out, “We’re not dead yet.”  
A slight blush was visible on Iwaizumi’s cheeks as Oikawa opened his eyes again, a bright smile on his lips,  
“So, Iwa-chan, I’m going to ask Kuroo for a new set of clothes once I get to his house. Promise me to change, as well, as soon as you get home. I don’t want you to get sick, or I’d have to run in the rain to your house so I can take care of you too.”  
Iwa promised, suggesting to accompany Tooru to Kuroo’s home, to which the taller responded by forcefully shaking his head ‘no’.  
They parted ways shortly after, both of them continuing to run, this time, however, in different directions.  
Oikawa didn’t have trouble finding his friends’ house, Matsukawa had explained it to be big, bright yellow, very outstanding.  
The boy felt a little bad for just walking through the small gate of the white fence that surrounded the, very neat looking, front yard. He guessed that Kuroo’s mother enjoyed gardening.  
When he arrived at the front door he was relieved to find a name tag that plainly said ‘Kuroo’ on the wall next to the half-white-wood, half-glass door. He couldn’t believe he actually doubted it was the right house for a second.  
Next to the tag, Oikawa found the small, black door bell and when he pressed down on it, he could hear the faint sound of it ringing inside.  
He only had to wait a few seconds before he heard fast steps making their way down a staircase and coming closer to the door.  
He was greeted by Kuroo groaning,  
“Kenma, why don’t you just open the door yourself, you have a key for fucks-“  
Kuroo’s sleepy eyes now fully opened, indicating that he was more than surprised to see Oikawa standing in front of his door.  
“Oh my god.”  
Oikawa laughed, covering his mouth with his left hand.  
“Ah I’m so sorry. You know, it’s just that I didn’t expect you here at all and well my friend Kenma, he sometimes comes over and he doesn’t use the key I gave him and-“  
“It’s fine, really. I could’ve texted you, I mean I asked Mattsun for your number, I know I probably should’ve texted you, actually.”  
“You know what? Come in first, you’re completely drenched. You really came here by foot, god you’re an idiot”, he chuckled, holding the door open for Oikawa, who quickly kicked his shoes off, in order to not get Kuroo’s floor dirty, and went inside.  
“Wait here”, Kuroo demanded, while already running up the stairs.  
Oikawa awkwardly stood in the middle of the hallway, avoiding to look around so much, afraid that Kuroo wasn’t the only one who was home and his mother would walk in on him scanning his surroundings like he had just discovered a new planet.  
It was only a few minutes later when he heard the heavy footsteps coming down the stairs again.  
Kuroo was smiling at him, already panting lightly, with a big sweater and some shorts in his arms.  
“I hope this is okay, I wasn’t sure what to take so…”, he said handing Oikawa the clothes,  
“The bathroom is right down the hall, you can go change there. There are towels in the shelf above the washing machine, so feel free to take one to dry yourself off.”  
Oikawa thanked him and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.  
The room was rather spacious and very clean, which Oikawa really appreciated.  
There were two big mirrors above the sink and a small window with drawn curtains on the wall facing them.  
Oikawa didn’t dare to look anywhere beside the shelf Kuroo told him about and quickly closed it after taking out one of the many white towels.  
He took off his vest and shirt, drying off his chest after, before also letting his school uniform’s pants fall to the ground.  
He felt weird standing in the bathroom of someone who was practically a stranger to him, just wearing his socks and underwear.  
He didn’t want Kuroo to wonder about what took him so long, so he simply slipped on the way oversized, dark red sweater, that had Kuroo’s name printed on it on the back in white letters.  
He chuckled when he noticed how big it was on him and putting on the black shorts, he picked up his wet clothes, making his way to ask Kuroo where he should hang them up to dry.  
“I’m in the kitchen”, he heard the other shout and just decided to follow his voice.  
He wasn’t surprised to see that the kitchen wasn’t all that small either.  
He walked up to Kuroo who was busy making tea for them.  
“How do I look”, he asked, stretching his arms out and turning around.  
He could see the blush on Kuroo’s cheeks, the second he turned around to look at him,  
“Cute. Now give me your clothes, I’ll hang them up really quick.”  
Kuroo returned shortly after, walking toward the counter and handing Oikawa a cup of tea, who took it thankfully.  
He couldn’t help the small moan that emitted from his lips, as he felt the hot drink warm his body from the inside.  
“You don’t have to tease me”, he heard Kuroo mumble.  
“Am not”, Oikawa retorted, licking his lips to catch a stray droplet of tea.  
“Oh come on”, Kuroo buried his face in his hands,  
“You’re being ridiculous, Kuroo-chan”, the brunette smiled, pulling his hands away,  
“It has to be your fever.”  
“I do have a fever.”  
He took ahold of Kuroo’s free hand and started to walk toward the staircase, slowly pulling Kuroo up with him.  
He stopped in front of a wall with two doors.  
“Left”, Kuroo chuckled, climbing the last step.  
Oikawa opened the simple, white door to Kuroo’s room, gasping at how nice it looked.  
The walls were plain white, beside a poster that had a colorful periodic table printed on it, and there was a well-organized desk in front of it.  
In one corner of the room there was a bed with light gray sheets and a small bedside table with a lamp and a book on it.  
In the opposite corner there was a big, white, glass closet next to a window that showed a view of the street in front of the house.  
“Wow”, Oikawa breathed, “Your room looks amazing.”  
Kuroo walked in, letting the door fall to a close behind him.  
“I know right? I like simple, clean places, so I tried to achieve that kind of look. I think I did a pretty good job on it, to be honest.”  
“You did”, Oikawa agreed, turning to face the other, “I was positively surprised to hear, that you’re not a slack off, you know.”  
“Mattsun told you, didn’t he? I would’ve preferred to show you myself, but oh well.”  
Oikawa pushed him toward the bed and sat down next to him.  
“You should get some rest, Kuroo-chan, I’m here to take care of you.”  
“First off, I’m old enough to take care of myself, and secondly, is ‘Kuroo-chan’ really a thing now?”  
“If you want it to be”, Oikawa smirked, “and, no, if you kick me out to go home now, you’re going to have to come and care for my sick ass tomorrow.”  
“I wouldn’t mind caring for that ass”, the raven said, a playful look on his face.  
“That’s not- ugh whatever. I’m going to stay here and take care of you to the best of my abilities”, he said, sitting up straight, pointing a thumb at himself, “I, Oikawa Tooru, will help you, my dear friend Kuroo-chan, overcome your sickness in no time!”  
“You’re such an idiot.”  
Oikawa looked over at him, a cocky smile on his face,  
“I try my best, Kuroo-chan. Now, where’s your laptop? We’re going to watch a movie.”  
Kuroo pointed over at his backpack, that was, unlike everything else in his room, lazily thrown onto the floor next to his desk.  
Tooru got up, fetching the rucksack and setting it down on the bed next to Kuroo, before flopping back down, now squeezing himself in the little space between the taller male and the white wall.  
Kuroo took the laptop out and propped himself up, letting his back rest against the head of the bed, the notebook on his thighs.  
After a few minutes and a lot of shuffling to get into a comfortable position for Oikawa, they were already clicking through movies to watch.  
“We’re not watching E.T., Oikawa”, Kuroo said, looking up from the screen to meet Oikawa’s begging eyes.  
“Wow, you really know how the concept of puppy eyes works, don’t you…Fuck, alright, I guess E.T. it is then”, the raven gave in with a sigh, selecting the movie.  
“Thank you, that was easier than expected”, the other laughed.  
“If you weren’t so freaking pretty, I would’ve hit you by now, you know.”  
Oikawa just nodded, huddling closer to the other so he could get a better view of the screen. He had always loved space and aliens so he was exited to watch movies about those things.  
About one hour into the film, Oikawa caught Kuroo staring at him.  
“What is it”, he asked, pausing the movie, “Do you need anything?”  
“No, I’m good”, he heard the boy mumble, his gaze still fixated on the brunet.  
Oikawa, quickly turned away when he noticed his face burning up.  
“Why do you keep staring at me, then?”  
“I’m just admiring your beauty, my prince”, he said, smiling at how flustered the boy in front of him was.  
“Stop it, you’re embarrassing me”, the shorter exclaimed, turning to grab a pillow from behind him and pressing it to Kuroo’s face.  
However, he didn’t expect the raven to grab his hands and pull him down, before moving to sit on top of him, making Oikawa shriek in response.  
“Kuroo, get off me-“, another high pitched squeak emitted from his mouth, followed by giggles,  
“No- No! Tickling isn’t fair- Kuroo!”  
He tried his best to kick Kuroo off him, but it was to no avail and he gave up on trying when the other’s hands made their way to his neck, finding an especially sensitive spot.  
“Okay, that one’s noted”, he laughed when Oikawa cringed under him.  
“Stop, please, I’m begging you”, he cried.  
Shortly after Kuroo gave in, letting himself fall to the side, already breathing heavily, looking at Oikawa over his shoulder.  
“I hate you, Kuroo, I hate you so much.”  
“Aw, I’m glad. It’d be weird if you weren’t angered by the fact that I found your sweetspot this early in the game”, he smirked.  
“You wish. Tickling is not sex, Kuroo.”  
“As if you’d know.”  
“Uhm, excuse you. Are you trying to tell me you know I’ve never done anyone?”  
“I’m pretty sure, you are not the one doing someone else”, Kuroo snorted, “And yeah, I’m saying you haven’t.”  
“Even so, I’m certainly not a bottom.”  
“I’m sorry, but I have to disagree. The way you just begged for me to stop tickling you, definitely doesn’t scream top.”  
“You wanna bet?”  
“If that’s an invitation to fuck you, I have to decline. We should go on a date first, don’t you think?”  
“It was not an invitation, you pervert”, Oikawa laughed closing the laptop and pushing it aside,  
“As much as I’d love to pay you back, we really should go and get something to eat first. Something that's not an ass. I’m not Makki.”  
“Oh my god, you didn’t just- Oh fuck, Oikawa that was pretty good. I’m proud”, Kuroo praised, watching him crawl over his feet and out of bed.  
Kuroo then stood up as well, stumbling a bit as he followed Oikawa downstairs.  
“I guess, since apparently you are sick, I should make some soup for you. What do you think of chicken?”  
“Chicken sounds great.”  
“Good”, Oikawa said walking into the kitchen,  
“You can go upstairs again, if you want, I’ll call you once the food is ready.”  
Kuroo nodded, gladly accepting the offer, but instead of walking upstairs, he made himself comfortable on the big, gray couch in the living room.  
About half an hour had passed when Oikawa felt Kuroo lean against the counter next to him.  
“It’s going to take a bit longer, I’m afraid. Is there anything I can do for you in the meantime?”  
Kuroo yawned, running a hand through his hair,  
“Nah. I just took a nap and I think my fever went down a little.”  
Oikawa turned to look at him, his gaze wandering over Kuroo’s face, examining its sharp features.  
“That’s good”, he smiled, turning away to check on the soup.  
He noticed how Kuroo jumped as the front door opened and a short, fragile looking woman entered the house.  
Only a few seconds later she walked into the kitchen.  
She had the same kind of black hair as Kuroo, but clearly, hers was styled, her bedhead was taken care of.  
She was too busy talking on her phone to notice that there was another boy in the kitchen until she said her goodbyes to whoever she was talking to and made her way over to kiss Kuroo on the forehead.  
She gasped at how hot his skin still felt, even after the fever had gone down.  
Oikawa silently chuckled, thinking about how awkward he felt standing there, unseen and watching them interact.  
The woman must have heard him, as she turned around, surprise written all over her face.  
“Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there. I’m Tetsuro’s mom, nice to meet you!”  
Oikawa bowed politely,  
“Oikawa Tooru, I’m one of your son’s friends. Nice to meet you, Kuroo-san.”  
“So, you are the boy Tetsu has been going on and on about”, she said, turning to face her son, a similar smirk to his usual one displaying on her lips, receiving a glare from him,  
“Are you here to bring his school things?”  
“Uh, actually, I was just going to check up on him. But I think it’s time for me to go home now, anyway”, he smiled at Kuroo, noticing the faint red on his cheeks.  
He was sure Kuroo saw his own blush as well.  
“Oh”, she said, “Do you want me to drive you home?”  
“Ah, no, it’s fine I don’t-“  
“Yeah mom, I think it’d be best if you did. I don’t want Oikawa to get sick as well.”  
Oikawa looked at him in surprise.  
“Yes”, his mother smiled, already turning toward the door, “You’re right, he shouldn’t have to walk outside when it’s raining this hard.”  
She had already turned away from them when Oikawa was about to protest.  
Kuroo, however, was faster, as he laughed at Oikawa, pushing him out of the kitchen and into the hall.  
“I’ll see you tomorrow?”  
Oikawa nodded, stating he needed to get his clothes anyway, so he might as well stay to keep the poor, oh-so-sick boy company.  
“Well then”, Kuroo snorted, “I’m looking forward to my prince looking after me again.”  
Oikawa smiled at him, still finding the idea of him being a prince childish and weird, but also enjoying the way the nickname sounded coming from Kuroo.  
“I’ll only be here so I can continue watching the movie.”  
Before Oikawa and Kuroo’s mother left, Oikawa had to promise the other not to come if it rained the same way as it had that day. In a way, Oikawa liked that. He felt like he was being cared for by a family that wasn’t even his.  
It wasn’t like his own family didn’t care, his mother probably even cared too much, but Kuroo had a comforting aura around him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're at chapter five already oh no. I'm literally so busy right now ugh. I'll try my best to continue writing in the three weeks I have left before I have do be done writing a chapter to post, so wish me luck. This is really going to be a challenge ngl cause exams start next week and only end around Christmas time. Fun.

Driving home with Kuroo’s mother wasn’t as awkward as he had expected it to be.  
“So”, she started as soon as they drove off, “You moved here just recently?”  
“Yeah, I did. My mom and I did, actually. We used to live in Tokyo with my dad and sister, but my parents got divorced.”  
“I’m sorry to hear that…”, she looked over at him for a short moment, a smile on her face, “You know, Tetsurou told me a bit about you.”  
Oikawa coughed, his cheeks turning red,  
“What did he say?”  
“Oh, honey, don’t worry, he didn’t say a single bad word about you. If anything, he sounded very amazed. I can see why he’d be curious to know more about you. You don’t seem to be very extroverted, unlike most of Tetsurou’s friends. There’s this one boy, Bokuto-kun, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you how loud he can be”, she made a wide gesture with her arms, seemingly forgetting that she was still driving a car for a second, before gripping the steering wheel again with both hands.  
She didn’t notice the way Oikawa’s eyes widened in shock and confusion at the statement about her son’s friend.  
“Oh I’m rambling again. Anyway, just a heads up, Tetsurou seems to like you. Believe it or not, despite his very confident attitude, he usually isn’t the most outgoing either, when it comes to meeting new people, that is. Then again, if he sets his mind to it, he doesn’t have any trouble making friends, but sometimes it can be hard for him to keep them, you know. Tetsurou may be annoying at times, I know he can be, but he’s a good guy. He tries very hard to make things right for others, even if that means they can’t be right for him. Ah, where do I turn next”, she asked, interrupting her own speech.  
“Right and then right again. It’s the light blue apartment complex.”  
When the car came to a halt, Oikawa thanked the woman and got off.  
After a few seconds he turned to see that she was waiting for him to go inside, so he did.  
When he unlocked the door to his apartment, he was surprised to see a second pair of shoes besides his mother’s in the hallway.  
“Mom”, he called out.  
“Tooru! We’re in the living room.”  
He quickly slipped off his own shoes, making his way to the other room.  
On the big couch, there was his mother and another familiar face.  
“Oikawa-kun”, the woman next to his mother greeted him.  
He recognized her to be his math teacher, a good friend of his mother.  
He bowed politely; walking over to his mother and giving her a kiss on the cheek, he excused himself to his room.  
Letting his bag drop on the floor next to the door and himself plop down on his air mattress, he fished his phone from his pocket, checking it for messages.  
One was by his mom, asking how long he’d be out, the rest from a group chat he didn’t bother catching up on.  
Not much later he found himself contemplating whether he should take a shower when there’s company in the house, imagining all kinds of unrealistic situations in which his math teacher would walk in on him being naked, but then decided, that locking the door would be enough to prevent something like that from happening.  
Only about ten minutes later he was back in his room, wearing a dark grey, oversized sweater, that very much reminded him of Kuroo’s red one, which he had yet to return to him and was now hung over the edge of one of his, still not fully unpacked, boxes.  
He had just opened his laptop when, from the corner of his eye, he saw his phone light up.

Iwa, 5:36pm  
Hey Trashykawa (deal with it), would you mind if I picked you up tomorrow again??

You, 5:36pm  
Mean Iwa-chan.. And no, I wouldn’t mind at all

Iwa, 5:36pm  
Okay good. how did things go with Kuroo? Is he ok?

You, 5:37pm  
Kuroo is fine. He has a fever, but it went down a lot today. I don’t think he’ll be at school tomorrow tho

Iwa, 5:40pm  
I’m glad he’s fine. By the way, do you have plans tomorrow? My 8 y.o. cousin has a theater play thing tomorrow night and I thought you might like to accompany me there? It’s fine if you don’t though.  
Oikawa stared at his phone blankly for a second. He was going to Kuroo’s house after school again, but he’d probably be home around the same time as today. His mother wouldn’t mind, of course, but he wasn’t sure if he was ready to see Iwaizumi all dressed up to go out, probably looking like a wealthy business man. He didn’t know if he was ready to spend an entire evening with Iwaizumi and his family and he wasn’t sure if he’d even be able to concentrate on the play if he was seated next to Iwa, or worse, his mother. Then thoughts of Kuroo passed through his head. Kuroo felt so much different from Iwaizumi; he felt like home, like Oikawa could say whatever he wanted without being judged for it. Iwaizumi felt different, because he felt unreal. Oikawa couldn’t help but think about every little move he made when he was with him, as if he was trying to impress him, in a way. He felt inferior to Iwa, as if he wasn’t worth the other’s time. But he knew the raven didn’t feel that way about him and that gave his pride a boost. He just invited him to practically go on a date with him. Only practically, though; it was not a date unless Iwaizumi said so. They were, however, going to spend an entire evening together and the thought made Oikawa’s heart swell in a way he hadn’t experienced before. Maybe the idea wasn’t a bad one, after all.

You, 5:42pm  
I’d love to go  


He wasn’t surprised to see an answer pop up on the screen almost immediately; maybe he even felt a little proud knowing that Iwa must have waited for him to reply.

Iwa, 5:42pm  
Great! I’ll pick you up at 5:30?

You, 5:42pm  
Sounds good. Are we going there by train?

Iwa, 5:42pm  
shit you’re right you can’t walk far.. I’m gonna have to carry you there hahha

You, 5:43pm  
That’s really not necessary, I can ask mom to drive me there too

Iwa, 5:43pm  
Nah I don’t mind carrying you around. You’re not very heavy

You, 5:43pm  
I guess, thanks Iwa-chan

Iwa, 5:43pm  
No problem. I’m glad you want to come with me tbh

Iwa, 5:44pm  
Also, I’m sorry to change the topic, but about Kuroo,, what did u guys do today? Was he asleep when you got there?

You, 5:44pm  
Ah no he wasn’t. We watched ET and then I made chicken soup. He took a nap and his fever went down and that’s pretty much it

Iwa, 5:45pm  
Oh okay, nothing unusual then. It’s just that Mattsun called and he and Makki were kinda annoying me making up all kinds of perverted things you two would be doing and soo I thought I’d ask hehh

You, 5:45pm  
Pff did u really believe that? Don’t let them bother u with stuff like that, Iwa-chann

Iwa, 5:45pm  
I did not believe them ok. I just thought that since Kuroo is a flirt I might as well ask anyway..I wouldn’t want him to tease you too much you know

You, 5:45pm  
Well, I appreciate it, Iwa-chan, thanks for checking up on me ;)

Iwa, 5:46 pm  
Oh shut up Shittykawa I was just being thoughtful

You, 5:46pm  
Aww it’s ok, I’m old enough to get a horny teen off me Iwa-chan~

Iwa didn’t read his last text and so Oikawa turned his attention back to the laptop on the mattress next to him.

He regretted staying up late the next morning, as always, but the excitement for the day made it easier to get himself to roll off the mattress and get ready for school.  
“Tooru”, his mother looked up from the newspaper she was reading, “Whose sweater is the one in your room?”  
Oikawa felt his cheeks grow hot and turned away, avoiding his mom’s questioning gaze.  
“Kuroo’s”, he mumbled barely audible.  
“Whose”, his mother asked and Tooru could hear the smirk in her voice.  
“Kuroo’s”, he said again, walking over to the table, still not looking at directly at his mother.  
“Is ‘Kuroo’ that classmate of yours?”  
Tooru nodded, sitting down on the chair facing his mother,  
“He’s my friend.”  
“Why do you have his sweater? You seem to keep stealing clothes from your friends, I’m concerned.”  
The boy just laughed at her question, secretly glad to know his mother didn’t ask him those kinds of things because she didn’t trust him, but because she just really wanted to know about Tooru’s friends.  
“He’s sick, so I went to his house yesterday. But you know how much it rained, so I was drenched and he lent me his clothes so mine could dry.”  
“That’s nice of you, baby, you’re such a good boy.”  
“I’m not a dog, mom.”  
She rolled her eyes at that, telling him to eat his breakfast.

When Oikawa walked outside of his apartment a little while later, he was happy to see Iwa leaning against the wall of the building again.  
“Morning, Iwa-chan”, he smiled at the boy.  
“Ah, good morning, Trashykawa”, Iwaizumi greeted, smiling at the sudden, small frown on Oikawa’s face.  
On the way to school they talked a lot about music and the festival, both being excited to work on their act in music class.  
They arrived at the school’s front doors, looking around for Makki and Mattsun.  
Oikawa figured they were either late or early and in the classrooms already, to which Iwa responded by stating that the former was more realistic and making them both laugh.  
Oikawa arrived at his classroom not long after and chuckled when he discovered Matsukawa’s seat to be empty. He had a hard time trying not to burst out laughing when the teacher was scolding the tall black haired in front of class for being almost twenty minutes late.  
“Dude, what took you so long”, he asked, receiving a scowl from the other.  
“Makki.”  
“What do you mean ‘Makki’?”  
“I stayed over at his house. He takes forever to get ready in the mornings and here I am, getting scolded while he probably just casually walked in. Actually, I’m pretty sure the teacher even thanked him for showing up. If they knew how bad their little ‘straight-A-student Hanamaki-kun’ really is, oh, they’d be scarred for life.”  
Mattsun’s frown was replaced by a smirk as he leaned back in his chair coolly.  
“Come to think of it”, he started, turning to look at Oikawa, the smirk widening into a cheeky grin,  
“Did you talk to Iwa about your private session with Kuroo?”  
“Shut the fuck up, Mattsun, honestly.”  
The raven just laughed, lightly slapping Oikawa’s shoulder.  
The classes went by rather slowly, unfortunately for Oikawa, but he forgot all about it when he saw Hanamaki and Iwaizumi sitting at their usual table in the very back of the cafeteria.  
“Hey babe”, Hanamaki looked up from a dark green book as his boyfriend sat down next to him, making room for Oikawa to sit next to Iwaizumi.  
“Oikawa”, Iwa greeted, shifting to the side a little.  
“How’s your day going so far”, the raven asked, smiling sheepishly.  
“Eh, classes are dragging on forever. How are you holding up?”  
“I just totally bombed a math quiz”, he laughed, “I honestly forgot about it.”  
Oikawa laughed, taking a bite of his food,  
“Is it going to affect your grade a lot?”  
“Not really, luckily, I’m usually pretty good at math.”  
Oikawa looked up from his plate to see Mattsun pulling Makki closer by his waist, burying his mouth and nose in his strawberry blonde hair.  
“Babe, not now”, Makki protested weakly, obviously not really meaning it,  
“We have a test about a bunch of dead painters next period and I’m not prepared”, he whined.  
“Makki”, the raven said, leaning forward to place a soft kiss on the boy’s temple, before resting his chin on his shoulder, “I studied so you’re good.”  
Oikawa couldn’t help but admire the two. They trusted each other without a thought. Their relationship reminded him of a scale; they both seemed to compliment the other perfectly.  
“I love you”, Makki said, tilting his head to look up at his boyfriend.  
Mattsun just laughed, nodded and quickly kissed his forehead.  
“Oikawa, you have to eat up”, Iwa said, pointing at the lunch box in front of him.  
“Oh yeah, you’re right.”  
“Is everything okay?”  
Oikawa looked over at Iwaizumi smiling,  
“I’m fine, Iwa-chan. Just excited for music class. I really want to play our song.”  
“Yeah, Iwa-chan, I’m excited to be alone with you in an old music room with an old piano, where no one else can see us”, Makki teased, earning an approving hum from Matsukawa.  
“Shut up, Makki”, Iwa sighed, turning back to Oikawa, who was slowly munching on some vegetables,  
“You really like that song, don’t you?”  
“I like- I like love songs, I guess”, the brunette said, looking over at Mattsun who was running his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair, seemingly not triggered by what he’d just said.  
“Ah, well, I don’t mind them either. You play our song very well, though, so I like it a lot too.”  
Oikawa looked down at his food in embarrassment, his face turning a deep shade of red,  
“Thank you”, he mumbled.  
He ended up eating about half of his lunch, pushing the rest away from him like a kid, indicating that he had finished.  
They got up and walked out of the big hall, not forgetting to seductively wink at a group of younger girls, who were watching them with big eyes, before they separated to get to their respective classes.  
“Iwaizumi-san”, the girl from their group came over to the table Oikawa and Iwa were seated at.  
Oikawa couldn’t help the scowl on his face, but turned away to hide it, trying to ignore the fact, that she had only greeted Iwaizumi.  
“Hey”, Iwa smiled at her, “Did you find time to practice your lines?”  
“Ah, well, no. I mean I did try to practice, but I’m not the best at English and I was wondering if maybe, you”, she stepped closer to him and Oikawa could have sworn she was pushing her chest out; not like he cared about that; “could help me with it?”  
Iwa didn’t seem to notice, however, and motioned her to sit down across from him.  
“Oikawa”, he said, turning to the brunet, “If you don’t mind, could you help me with this?”  
He wanted to say no. Really, that girl could sing the wrong words at the festival for all he cared. But he didn’t want to disappoint Iwa and he certainly didn’t want to have to uselessly sit there, while his friend explained the meanings of English words to someone who clearly didn’t even care about them. He knew that he was being childish, maybe jealous, but he wasn’t going to let a girl pretend to be stupid just to be close to Iwaizumi. If she had really wanted to know what the words meant, she could’ve looked them up.  
“Sure”, he flashed a fake smile at the petite girl, “I’d gladly try to help.”  
He felt good when he saw her face drop into an annoyed expression from the corner of his eye and he secretly hoped that Iwa had seen it too, even if it was very unlikely he had.  
“So, show me the words you need help with”, Iwa said, hovering over the sheet of paper that had the lyrics of “Crazy In Love” printed on it.  
She jumped a bit, looking at the paper. Oikawa noticed that she wasn’t searching for any particular words; clearly she hadn’t cared to look at them beforehand.  
“Well”, she started, leaning forward so that her forehead almost touched Iwaizumi’s, “If you don’t mind, could you explain the meaning of the title to me?”  
Oikawa looked at her in disbelief. Not only was it painfully obvious, that she didn’t care about the song, but she had also picked the line that was the most important and had the biggest meaning, leaving lots of room for interpretation.  
“Uhh, you know what the words mean, right?”  
She nodded, looking very interested in Iwaizumi’s every word.  
“Well, being crazy in love, doesn’t necessarily mean that you really are crazy, you know. It’s like, having an undying desire for another person, that makes you believe you’re going crazy. Maybe love is a feeling that’s still foreign to you, so it just feels strange, I guess”, Iwa said, his eyes flickering to look into Oikawa’s only for a split second,  
“So saying that you’re crazy in love, can be a way to describe how strongly you feel for someone else and how hard it can be to control yourself and not go crazy when you’re with them.”  
All three of them were silent for a second, as Iwa’s eyes landed on Oikawa’s again, this time staying there. Those few seconds of connection were enough to make him feel like Iwaizumi wasn’t at all explaining the saying to the girl, but to him instead. He felt like the raven had chosen every word especially for him, which he knew, was an awfully self-centered thought.  
The cold shudder that ran through his body, when Iwaizumi turned away, made him cringe.  
“Wow, Iwaizumi-san, that was an amazing explanation”, the girl said, capturing Iwa’s attention,  
“You’re very good with words. Is there someone you admire? It sounded like you knew what you were talking about.”  
Iwa coughed, his cheeks turning a light, barely visible shade of pink, which Oikawa still noticed, of course.  
“Oh uhm…No. No, there’s nobody.”  
The girl looked disappointed, to say the least, but for the first time since they’d met, Oikawa wasn’t sure if he blamed her for it. After all, even if Iwa didn’t notice, disappointment was written all over his own face. What did he even expect? He didn’t expect for Iwa to announce he liked somebody right then and there, did he?  
“Anyway”, Iwa looked at the paper on the table in front of him, “Anything else you want me to explain?”  
She nodded, but Oikawa didn’t care to know what other words she apparently didn’t know,  
They didn’t get to practice together; instead, the teacher called Oikawa to the small music room alone. He played the song once, listening to the teacher’s praising and small corrections, before the bell rang and he excused himself.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright it's been a while. School has been pretty stressful, but I'm on fall break right now, so who am I to complain. Also it's Halloween today lmao. Anyway, as always, idek what's going on in this chapter since I don't bother proof-reading it again now. What I do know, though, is that the cringe levels in this one are pretty high, I think, so be warned.

He didn’t mean to wait for Iwaizumi to finish, but he also didn’t need to, seeing that the raven had left without him. So he walked down to the doors alone, maybe for the first time since he had come to this school, quickly making his way outside before his friends could spot him in the crowd.  
It didn’t rain and he silently thanked the gods for it. He wasn’t going to think about Iwaizumi’s words anymore once he was with Kuroo. He felt like he was using the sick boy in a way, but quickly dismissed the thought once a sleepy, bed-headed Kuroo opened the door of the bright yellow house, greeting him with a lazy grin.  
“Hey”, Oikawa said, stepping inside and kicking his shoes off, “How are you?”  
Kuroo followed behind him, rubbing his eyes,  
“Much better, now that you’re here.”  
Oikawa laughed, stepping closer to him and letting his hand touch the other’s forehead.  
“Your fever is gone, isn’t it?”  
“Yup, I’m all healed because of your care, my prince”, he smiled down at Oikawa.  
“Was the soup okay? I’m sorry I couldn’t give it to you myself.”  
Kuroo sighed, his hand wandering up to brush a strand of hair out of the brunette’s face,  
“It was amazing. My mom ate some of it and she kept praising you in front of me like she was telling me to be more like you”, he chuckled, obviously not feeling very offended by it,  
“I guess she wouldn’t mind you being her son.”  
“Kuroo. You’re making fun of me”, he whined, shaking off the boy’s hand.  
Kuroo laughed, taking Oikawa’s arm and pulling him along until they’d reached his room’s door.  
“I hope you remember where we left off?”  
“Yeah, of course I do, get your laptop.”  
“Well, I’m glad, ‘cause”, he went to pick his laptop up from his desk, before setting it down on his bed, “I don’t.”  
Oikawa just rolled his eyes, watching Kuroo climb under the sheets.  
When they were both comfortably settled on Tetsurou’s bed, the laptop on both of their laps, the boy opened the movie.  
As soon as it started, Oikawa moved so he could rest his head on Kuroo’s shoulder.  
“Kuroo-chan”, he whispered, as if he was in a movie theater, not wanting to disturb the rest of the audience, “Don’t make fun of me if I cry, okay?”  
Kuroo chuckled,  
“Can’t promise anything.”  
Oikawa sighed, moving so his head was resting on Kuroo’s chest instead, where he could hear the boy’s heart beat calmly, very much unlike his, which, despite him seeming relaxed on the outside, was close to breaking free from its cage.  
Kuroo moved to wrap his arm around Oikawa’s shoulder, pulling him closer.  
“You had a tough day, huh”, Kuroo mumbled, looking down at Tooru, who just hummed in response.  
“It was stupid”, he said, turning the volume on the computer up a notch, “Stupid and immature and I don’t wanna talk about it.”  
“Alright, I’m not forcing you to talk”, the raven stated, running a hand through Oikawa’s hair.  
“Thanks”, Oikawa smiled up at him, “I really appreciate it.”  
Kuroo nodded, turning his attention to the movie that was playing on the small screen again.  
Even though Kuroo’s hands playing with the brown locks of his hair were distracting, he managed to enjoy the movie as much as ever, shedding a few small tears toward the end and to his surprise, beside a soft chuckle coming from the raven, he didn’t get teased for it. Kuroo even reached over to pull out a box of tissues out of the drawer of his bedside table, handing it to Oikawa with a warm smile.  
Once they had finished E.T., they decided to watch another film, which Kuroo got to choose.  
“I didn’t expect you to like romance”, Oikawa laughed, selecting the all too well known ‘Love Actually’. He knew that Kuroo hadn’t chosen the movie without a second thought, but he appreciated it. He liked lighthearted comedy and he absolutely loved romance.  
The raven just nodded and Oikawa found himself hum in approval when Kuroo’s fingers traced circles on the nape of his neck.  
“Thank you, Kuroo. I came so I could care for you, but right now, I feel like it’s you, who’s taking care of me.”  
Kuroo laughed at him, telling him not to be silly,  
“If you knew how much better you make me feel when you’re here keeping me company, you wouldn’t think of it that way. It’s pretty boring without anyone to tease.”  
“And here I thought you were going to leave it at a simple ‘you’re welcome’”, Oikawa snorted, hitting Kuroo’s stomach lightly.  
The movie was exactly the kind of movie Tooru loved and his occasional soft chuckles were enough to get Kuroo to laugh as well, they were contagious.  
Only about an hour in, the comfortable atmosphere was disrupted by the sound of a phone ringing in Oikawa’s school bag, which was thrown onto the floor beneath the window.  
“I’ll go get it”, Oikawa said as Kuroo paused the movie and let him crawl off the bed.  
“Iwa-chan?”  
“Hey, uhm, I just left to pick you up, are you home or?”  
Oikawa checked the time; he didn’t realize how long they’d been in Kuroo’s room.  
“No, actually, I’m still at Kuroo’s. I can come meet you, though, if you don’t want to come here.”  
“It’s fine, I’ll be there in a bit. See you later.”  
“Yeah. See you.”  
Oikawa ended the call, letting his hand sink to his side.  
He jerked when he felt Kuroo’s arm brush his as he walked over to the desk to take a sip of his tea.  
“Iwa-chan?”  
“Yeah”, Oikawa laughed, “Long story. I forgot we had plans for tonight.”  
“You two are-“  
“No. God, Kuroo, no, don’t be ridiculous. Iwa’s younger cousin is performing a play with his theater group tonight and he asked if I wanted to accompany him there. I completely forgot about it, though.”  
“And you’re going there in your school uniform”, the raven asked, pinching Oikawa’s shirt.  
“Well I don’t have anything to change into.”  
“Then wait a second”, Kuroo moved away and walked over to his closet.  
He pulled out a pair of black skinny jeans and a baby blue shirt.  
“Is that okay, or do you want to choose yourself?”  
“It’s perfectly fine, thanks”, Oikawa smiled, taking the clothes, “I’ll go change in the bathroom, if you don’t mind.”  
Oikawa laughed at the defeated sound coming from Kuroo’s mouth and the unfitting grin on his face,  
“It’s just across the hall.”  
He came back into the room a few minutes later and neatly folded his uniform, before putting it in his bag and pulling out the dark red sweater his mom had kindly washed the night before, in order to place it on Kuroo’s desk and make his way downstairs afterwards.  
Kuroo was in the kitchen and Oikawa set his bag down, before leaning against the kitchen counter next to him.  
The raven turned to look at him as his lips formed a cheeky grin,  
“You look better than expected.”  
“Wow, I don’t know if I should take this as a compliment.”  
Kuroo chuckled, pushing himself off the counter to take a better look at Oikawa,  
“Don’t worry, it’s a compliment. You look great. Your dear Iwa-chan is going to be very pleased.”  
Oikawa felt his stomach twist, a heat wave making its way up to his face and he turned away in an attempt to hide his clearly visible blush.  
“You’re awful.”  
“You’re cute”, the raven gave as an answer, making Oikawa laugh and shake his head at him.  
“Do you know what the play is about?”  
Oikawa shook his head again in response, closing his eyes.  
After a moment of silence, the brunet spoke up again,  
“Wish me luck so I don’t embarrass myself in front of Iwa’s family.”  
“What, are you scared your future in-laws won’t like you?”  
Oikawa couldn’t help the smirk that was making its way onto his face when he thought of his response.  
“But your mom likes me already.”  
He heard Kuroo take in a sharp breath, before he caught Oikawa’s gaze, only for a split second.  
When he saw the big grin on his face he groaned, his shoulders slumping only a little bit.  
“You sly bastard.”  
“Aww Tetsu-chan, you look cute when you’re mad.”  
Kuroo wanted to fire back a witty remark at the new nickname, but was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing.  
“Your date’s here”, he said instead, his expression morphing into his signature lazy one as he strolled over to the hall, Oikawa following behind him.  
“You’re secretly glad it’s not, don’t lie to yourself.”  
“Touché”, Kuroo laughed when he opened the door.  
“Hey Iwa”, he said, looking down at the boy standing there.  
“Hey”, the other responded, looking past him at Oikawa who was already slipping his shoes on.  
A few moments later the brunet got up and made his way past Kuroo, whose eyes were following his every move.  
“Have fun, guys. And Oikawa”, he spoke up, running a hand through his black, tousled hair, “Text me later, okay?”  
“Will do”, the teen answered, walking out of the house.  
\-------------------------------  
“So, uhm, thanks for joining me”, Iwa smiled at him and Oikawa suddenly felt a lump form in his throat.  
“No problem Iwa-chan”, he managed to choke out, turning his head to give the other a small, forced smile.  
It faded however, when he saw Iwaizumi’s face turn sour,  
“What was that for?”  
Oikawa’s eyes widened at the sudden statement.  
“What do you mean?”  
Iwa looked at him again, before turning his gaze on the sidewalk, away from Oikawa.  
“It’s nothing, I’m sorry.”  
“Iwa-chan”, Oikawa breathed out, a feeling of guilt washing over him.  
“Listen, Oikawa, I-“, the raven said, stopping in his tracks, “If I somehow angered you, I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry. I just- I can’t stand the way you smile that fake smile at me.”  
Oikawa had stopped as well, before turning around to look at Iwaizumi. He was surprised by the hurt look that was displayed on the boy’s face and the way his skin creased at the bridge of his nose, making him look a few years older than he really was.  
“I’m not mad at you”, he said, trying to regain his composure, “You didn’t do anything wrong. Why would you think that smile was fake?”  
“Your mouth was smiling, but your eyes weren’t following suit. I could tell…and I’d like to know what kind of idiotic thing I’ve done to upset you.”  
Oikawa didn’t know how to respond to that. He felt torn between the insecurity that made his stomach turn, the fact that Iwaizumi had looked through his façade so easily was scaring him, and the feeling of shame that sent shivers down his spine. He had been feeling bad about what Iwaizumi had said in music class and the way he himself had acted so irrational and immature for much longer than he should have. The worst of all being, that Iwaizumi was taking the blame for it.  
He turned his head to look at the ground for a second before smiling a reassuring smile at Iwa,  
“No, Iwa-chan, sorry, you didn’t do anything to upset me. I’m glad you invited me to come with you.”  
Iwa scanned his face for any sign that said otherwise, but seemed to accept what Oikawa said. A few minutes later, the still slightly visible frown was replaced by a surprised expression,  
“Oh wait a second!”  
“What is it”, Oikawa asked, yet again stopping in his tracks.  
“I forgot I was going to carry you there.”  
Oikawa laughed when Iwa motioned him to get on his back for a piggyback ride.  
“Really, it’s okay, Iwa-chan I-“  
“I told you I was going to do that. You’re not heavy and fighting me won’t get you anywhere, you know.”  
Despite the strict look on Iwa’s face, Oikawa could tell by the sound of his voice, that he wasn’t all too serious.  
He sighed, but obliged him by climbing on his back anyway.  
“Ready to go, Trashykawa?”  
Oikawa snorted, laying his arms around Iwa’s neck,  
“Of course I am, my strong Iwa-chan.”  
“I’m taking it back, you are heavy.”  
“Rude.”  
Oikawa heard Iwaizumi chuckle to himself, before he replaced the pout on his face by a smile and moved so that his head was comfortably resting on the raven’s shoulder.  
He couldn’t help but notice the familiar scent of apple pie mixed with what he assumed to be the mild smell of Iwaizumi’s cologne.  
He felt his chest tighten at the thought of Iwa standing in front of the mirror, all dressed up, making sure his tie fit his shirt and was knotted correctly, trying to tame his black hair by running gel-coated fingers through it carefully.  
He let out a shaky breath and buried his face deeper into the collar of Iwaizumi’s dark gray shirt, trying to get rid of unwanted, inappropriate thoughts.  
However, he was soon to lean back when he heard Iwa call his name,  
“Oikawa? Did you fall asleep?”  
“Hm? No I didn’t.”  
“You’re awfully quiet, I’m getting worried”, he laughed, turning his head a little to look at Oikawa over his shoulder.  
The brunet moved so that Iwaizumi couldn’t see his red face,  
“Be happy I’m not talking the entire walk.”  
“I wouldn’t have asked you to come with me if I didn’t want to talk to you, though.”  
“True...Alright, what do you wanna talk about, then?”  
Iwaizumi seemed to think for a second before pushing Oikawa up a bit so he didn’t fall off.  
“How’s Kuroo? He looks healthy if you ask me.”  
“Mhm, he’s much better. His fever is pretty much gone. I’m sure he’ll be back on track by tomorrow.”  
“You were quite worried about him, weren’t you?”  
“Well, yeah. I worry a lot about all kinds of things”, he sighed, “I just wanted to make sure he’s alright, I guess.”  
“That’s actually really nice of you, you know. Neither Mattsun, Makki, nor I would’ve believed he’s actually sick, to be honest.”  
Oikawa laughed, lightly hitting Iwaizumi’s chest with his right hand,  
“You guys are awful friends. What if he was close to dying?”  
“He wasn’t.”  
“But what if?”  
“Then he could’ve called us.”  
“But what if he couldn’t speak to you anymore because he was so sick his voice failed him?”  
“Sounds like a normal cold to me”, Iwa looked back at him again, a grin on his face, “His mom would probably be able to take care of that.”  
“Iwa-chan”, Oikawa whined, “Stop making me feel like an idiot for checking up on him.”  
“I’m not”, he turned back to the street.  
“Are too!”  
“Oh come on, you sound like a kid.”  
“Am not…”  
“Are too”, Iwa said, knowing he had won that round.  
“Well, Iwa-chan, I’ll make sure to let you die from a cold when you get sick.”  
“Aww come on, you wouldn’t really do that”, Oikawa could hear the amusement in Iwa’s voice.  
He felt Iwa’s grip on his thighs tighten and pulled himself closer, pressing his chest up against the raven’s back.  
“You’re right. I wouldn’t.”  
They walked in silence for a while until they came to a halt at a crossroad, waiting for the traffic lights to turn green.  
“Iwa-chan”, Oikaawa almost whispered, “Am I a bother right now?”  
He noticed Iwaizumi growing tense beneath him.  
“Of course not. Why would you be?”  
“Dunno.”  
Iwa looked up at the green light before quickly walking across the street, not giving an answer before he reached the other side.  
“You’re not a bother, Oikawa. I don’t know who implanted that kind of bullshit into your brain. You don’t seem to understand”, he paused, letting the boy shift on his back, “that I really like you and I wouldn’t want to spend my Friday night with you if I found you to be annoying or not worth my time.”  
“You’re right. Thank you, for spending your Friday night with me, then.”  
Once again, Oikawa felt Iwaizumi’s hands grip tighter around his thighs as he muttered a small ‘dumbass’ in the other’s direction.  
“Can we please not talk about stupid stuff now, Trashykawa? You’re ruining the mood.”  
Oikawa decided to let both the general insult and the nickname slide, since, after all, Iwaizumi wasn’t wrong in saying that Oikawa’s worries were dampening the mood.  
He waved one hand in dismissal, the other one pressed flat on Iwa’s chest,  
“Alright, alright, Iwa-chan, we’ll talk about something else, then.”  
He hummed in thought but before he could speak up again, Iwa had already come up with a new topic to talk about,  
“Well, you’re going to meet my family tonight, so I might as well tell you a bit about them in advance.”  
He waited for Oikawa to give him a sign of approval and started talking again after Oikawa nodded his head, burying his face in Iwaizumi’s collar,  
“They are…I guess you could say, very lively. My mother not as much as my uncle, but you’ll see for yourself. I guess you could say they’re pretty open minded and relaxed, much like a bunch of second generation hippies.”  
“So you think they’re fine with me being-“  
“Yes. They know of Mattsun, Makki and I already so it won’t be a big deal.”  
Oikawa jerked at Iwaizumi’s words, a strangled sound escaping his lips,  
“Wait- What? You- You’re not straight?”  
Iwaizumi stopped in his tracks, tilting his head so his eyes met Oikawa’s,  
“I thought I told you.”  
Oikawa could feel his cheeks take on a dark shade of red as he tried to choke out his words, a frown making its way onto his face,  
“Y-You didn’t. I thought you liked…Why didn’t you tell me Iwa-chan?!”  
He felt Iwaizumi’s body vibrate as the boy beneath him started to laugh, raising his brows in more of an amused, rather than confused manner.  
“Oikawa I-“, he stopped, taking another deep breath to calm himself, “Do you really think I would put up with Mattsun’s and Makki’s teasing if there wasn’t at least a hint of truth behind their words?”  
Now Oikawa’s frown deepened as he shot Iwa a glare from behind.  
“Well, how am I supposed to know”, he muttered through gritted teeth,  
“Besides, when I told you I was gay, you didn’t feel like it was necessary to tell me you aren’t straight either?”  
“As I said, I could’ve sworn I told you”, Iwa responded as another chuckle escaped his mouth.  
“Stupid Iwa-chan. Stupid, stupid, idiot Iwa-chan.”  
“Hey, don’t call me stupid, I’ll drop you”, the raven threatened as he let go of Oikawa just for a split second, making the other startle, before catching him again.  
“Iwa-chan! Never do that again! I swear you take years off my life.”  
“Well, I can’t help that you suddenly got so heavy”, he laughed, bending back a little, just enough to give Oikawa the feeling that they were going to fall over, making the brunet let out a squeal as he tightened his grip around the front of Iwaizumi’s shirt.  
“You wanna go again”, he asked once they were standing straight again, Oikawa was breathing heavily in shock, “Or are you going to be good and not call me names anymore? For your own safety, that is.”  
The brunet stuck out his tongue to him, yet decided not to give a remark, but instead bury his face in the other boy’s collar, still clutching the gray shirt in his hands.  
After a while Oikawa felt himself relax, letting out a relived breath of hot air against Iwaizumi’s neck and secretly enjoying the way the boy grew tense beneath him, as they continued walking to the small theater the play was taking place at.  
\-------------------------------------  
It didn’t take them long to find their seats and join Iwaizumi’s family in the third row from the front that gave them the perfect view of the already only dimly lit stage.  
“Oikawa Tooru, nice to meet you too”, Oikawa smiled politely as he returned Iwaizumi’s mother’s introduction with a small bow.  
His head snapped towards the ringing laughter that came from the seat next to hers.  
Seated there was a rather odd looking man; he was wearing a dark blue shirt, a matching jacket, dark pants and a wine red tie, that was dotted in little pictures of ladybugs to go along with the outfit. But that wasn’t what caught Oikawa’s attention. Rather was it the absolute mess of black hair that was sticking out from his head, seemingly defying gravity with an ease. The boy felt himself bite the inside of his cheek as the thought of sleepy Kuroo crossed his mind. He didn’t want to think about the way the raven was by now probably huddled up in blanket over blanket on his couch, dozing off to some science related documentary, or how he was eating with his mother, talking about how their days had been, maybe talking about Oikawa.  
His thoughts, however, were interrupted by the strange man turning to him, startling him only slightly.  
“So you’re the handsome, young man Hajime has been talking about all week. I can see why he’d be so very interested in you”, he said, a cheeky grin making its way onto his face.  
Oikawa couldn’t help but stare at the man for a few seconds, before straightening up and placing a fake smile on his face, trying to hide the way his heart was beating at such an incredible pace, it made him feel like throwing up.  
“Is that so”, he choked out, “Well, I feel honored to hear that. I’m Oikawa Tooru, nice to meet you, Iwaizumi-san.”  
The man just laughed, nodding his head back at him,  
“Nice to meet you too.”  
Oikawa waited for another second before stepping away from him and making his way over to the seat beside Iwaizumi, silently thanking the gods that he wasn’t seated next to one of his family members, for now.  
“So you’ve been talking about me, huh”, Oikawa smirked once he sat down next to the boy.  
“I- what?”  
“Your uncle, he told me you’re interested in me and have been talking about me a lot recently”, he said, his smirk growing ever so slightly.  
“Oh god.”  
Oikawa felt a feeling of satisfaction wash over him as Iwaizumi’s face went bright red, the color being visible fairly well, despite the darkness of the theater.  
“Iwa-chan has been talking about me”, he chimed, slightly pushing his elbow into Iwa’s side.  
“I have not been talking about you, you idiot.”  
“Sure you haven’t.”  
Iwaizumi’s face turned slightly sour at the way Oikawa seemed to enjoy rubbing the sarcasm into his face.  
He didn’t get the chance to enlighten the other as the lights turned off completely and a woman accompanied by a strobe of light and holding a microphone stepped onto the stage, ready to announce the night’s program.  
“I’m glad”, Oikawa whispered, barely loud enough for Iwa to hear.  
The raven turned to him, a surprised expression replacing the frown on his face.  
“You’re glad I’m talking to my family about you?”  
Oikawa turned to him, his now dark eyes carrying a certain softness he himself believed to be rare,  
“That too”, the brunet admitted, “But mainly, I’m glad you’re interested in me.”  
From the corner of his eye he saw the other open his mouth to say something, but close it again shortly after, instead.  
He did notice the way Iwaizumi’s eyes darted over to him every once in a while throughout the first half of the play, but decided not to act on it.  
When they’d reached the third part of the earlier announced program, the boy turned toward him, tapping his shoulder to grab his attention.  
“That’s him”, he said, pointing at a boy dressed up as a detective, who was standing in the back of the stage, fiddling his fingers nervously, “That’s my cousin.”  
Oikawa chuckled at the way the other’s eyes lit up when he proudly showed off the little boy, as if he had just become an Olympic medalist.  
“He’s playing the detective? That’s a big role.”  
“Yeah. He practiced a lot.”  
“That’s adorable.”  
Iwa nodded in agreement, but didn’t dare to turn his head away from the boy who was now entering the stage with a serious look on his face, perfectly playing his role.  
Oikawa hated to admit that he didn’t concentrate on the act in front of him as much as he did on the way Iwaizumi’s eyes moved quickly, as if he had trouble catching up with the acting kid’s movements.  
The way he clenched his jaw whenever it was his cousin’s turn to speak, how he let out a deep breath whenever the little boy was done talking, almost seeming relieved to know he hadn’t quit and sprinted off the stage yet. All those little motions in the raven’s face managed to catch Oikawa’s attention, making him forget about the play for a few seconds and only letting thoughts of Iwaizumi cloud his mind for that short while.  
He only snapped from his trance when the lights went back on and the mass of people around him stood up, clapping excitedly. He laughed at the whistle Iwaizumi’s uncle let out, before standing up as well and turning toward the stage on which the kids stood in a row, bowing down almost simultaneously and earning themselves another round of applause by the audience.  
“They did great”, Oikawa heard Iwaizumi’s mother say with a sniffle.  
He looked over at her and caught her smiling back at him, making him instantly feel hot and nervous.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, I'm so sorry for the long wait! I've been so busy these past few weeks. Even now I rarely have time to do anything but study and sleep and it's so exhausting. I really do hope I'll be able to update more regularly, but it's very difficult for me at the moment. Sorry again!

“Oikawa-kun”, she started, once they’d gathered in front of the big theater, waiting for the kids to come out,  
“Would you like to join us for dinner?”  
Oikawa startled at the question and glanced over at his friend who was smiling brightly, talking to an elderly woman.  
“I’m not sure if I should”, he said, the insecurity clear in his voice.  
“Oh darling, please do. I’m sure Hajime would love for you to join us as well.”  
He turned again to look at said boy who was now pointing over at their direction, his smile still bright and blinding.  
“Yeah...I mean, yes, thank you, Iwaizumi-san, I’d gladly come with you”, he shot her a sweet smile. Not long after, Iwa walked over to them. He had spotted his cousin amongst the other kids storming out of the theater and picked him up, placing a kiss on the little boy’s forehead and laughing at the ‘gross’ coming from the kid.  
“And this is my friend, Oikawa”, he said, introducing the brunet to the boy on his arm, who looked at him, curiosity written all over his face.  
“Hi, Oikawa, I’m Hiroshi, but everyone calls me Hiro”, he said, giving him a toothy grin. Oikawa just smiled at the lack of honorifics.  
“Well, Hiro-chan, it’s nice to meet you.”  
“Hey, I never agreed on the ‘-chan’!”  
“Sorry Hiro, but you’re gonna have to get used to that. He calls me ‘Iwa-chan’ too”, Iwaizumi laughed, setting the boy down.  
Oikawa wanted to slap himself for thinking about how amazing Iwa would be as a father, with how much care he treated his cousin and about how he gave the boy such soft, loving smiles whenever he looked at him.  
“Alright, I guess it’s fine. Oikawa is cool enough anyway.”  
Tooru heard Iwaizumi sigh at that, but chose to ignore it.  
“Hajime, Hiro”, they heard Iwa’s uncle call for them and made their way toward the rest of the family, Oikawa following behind them.  
When the little guy had left to sprint toward his dad and aunt, Oikawa felt himself relax.  
“He likes you”, Iwa said, turning to face him.  
“Why wouldn’t he, I’m irresistible.”  
“Dream on, you dumbass”, Iwa snorted, lightly elbowing the other,  
“Anyway, you’re joining us for dinner?”  
“I- uhh, yeah? If you don’t mind, that is. I wasn’t sure if-“  
He was interrupted by Iwaizumi’s arm around his shoulder, his hand ruffling through Oikawa’s brown locks,  
“Shut up already. Of course, I want you to join us.”  
“Iwa-chan, stop! You’re ruining my hair!”  
“There’s nothing to ruin there, it’s already bad as it is”, Iwaizumi joked, pulling Oikawa closer, before running his hand through his hair one last time, in an attempt to smother it down just a little.  
Oikawa heard Iwaizumi’s mother chuckle in front of them, as Hiro turned around, a sneaky grin on his face,  
“Iwa-chan”, he chimed, “stop messing up your boyfriend’s hair.”  
Oikawa almost choked at that, his throat suddenly going dry. He felt Iwaizumi grow tense around him as well and was relieved when the raven decided to let go, only to feel a cold shudder run through his body once the boy’s warmth was gone.  
“He’s not my boyfriend, Hiro”, Iwaizumi said, surprising Oikawa with the stern sound of his voice.  
“Now, now”, Hiroshi’s father turned around, patting the little boy’s shoulder,  
“Don’t always be so blunt.”  
He looked over at Iwaizumi, giving him a small wink, which Oikawa didn’t fail to notice.  
“You can’t always judge a situation simply by the looks of it.”  
Oikawa saw the boy next to him open his mouth to retort something, but close it again, as if he had lost all will to try to argue with his uncle, as if he knew it was pointless.  
He didn’t expect the raven to turn toward him with a light shade of red dusting his cheeks,  
“I’m sorry about that, Oikawa. I mean I told you he was, well, interesting, but I should’ve warned you about stuff like that.”  
Oikawa just hummed knowingly, giving Iwa a small smile,  
“It’s fine, I guess. It’s not like being called Iwaizumi Hajime’s boyfriend is offensive in any way”, he laughed, before dodging the hand that was aiming to hit the back of his head.  
They spent the rest of the walk bickering and making silly jokes until they’d reached a tall building, with a glass elevator, that brought them to a rather fancy looking restaurant on one of the highest floors.  
“Wow”, Oikawa breathed when he let his eyes drift over the rows of tables, bar stools and comfortable looking arm chairs in one of the corners. A waiter had spotted them and was now leading them to their table. It was round and there was a painting of one of Miyagi’s most famous shrines on the wall behind it.  
Oikawa found himself biting his lip as Iwa moved to pull his chair out for him, motioning him to sit down and settling down on the seat next to his after.  
When another waiter came to take their orders, Iwaizumi’s uncle said he insisted on paying and that they could get what they wanted. Oikawa was fiddling with the hem of his shirt as he thought of what food was appropriate, but was surprised to feel Iwa’s hand on his shoulder as the boy ordered for the both of them, giving him a reassuring smile.  
“Thank you, Iwa-chan”, Oikawa whispered in his direction and Iwa just nodded removing his hand from Oikawa’s shoulder and letting it drop on the brunet’s chair, subtly touching his leg.  
He made no effort to move it away until their drinks arrived and they all drank on Hiro and his successful play, complimenting him on his acting.  
Their food arrived not much later and Oikawa noticed that Iwa hadn’t ordered the same for the both of them.  
“Iwa-chan? Why did you order something different for me? You know I can’t just-“  
“I wanted you to get something good and I know you wouldn’t have chosen it if I hadn’t done it for you.”  
“But what about the price, Iwa-chan?”  
“What about it? It’s not too bad and besides, you heard my uncle, he said we can order whatever we want. Just enjoy it, Oikawa, it’s fine.”  
Oikawa reluctantly turned back to his food, taking a bite and immediately looking back at Iwa in disbelief.  
“It’s good, huh”, the raven laughed, a fond look in his eyes.  
“It’s amazing, oh my god.”  
He heard Iwaizumi’s mother chuckle at his actions,  
“You like it, Oikawa-kun?”  
“Yes. It’s just- wow. Thank you.”  
“You’re very welcome, my dear”, she said, before taking another bite of her own food.  
Oikawa glanced back at Iwa, who was still watching him softly.  
“Do you wanna try mine”, he asked, sticking his chopsticks out to him.  
“Are you sure?”  
Iwa just hummed, picking up a bit of grilled chicken and bringing it toward Oikawa’s mouth slowly. Their eyes met when Oikawa’s lips parted and he felt as if he could hear his heart beat in his ears.  
Although, for everyone else, it only took a mere three or four seconds, to Oikawa it felt as though everything was happening in slow motion. He had a feeling that Iwaizumi felt the same, but he wouldn’t have dared to ask him about it.  
Oikawa didn’t miss the looks that were shot in their direction, by not only Iwaizumi’s family, but also the strangers around them. But in that short moment, when the other boy’s eyes were fixated on his, he managed to resist the urge to back away.  
He saw the other’s green orbs light up when his own lips formed a smile at the mild, yet exotic taste spreading on his tongue.  
He heard Iwa hum in a questioning tone and nodded eagerly at how well his food tasted. It could almost keep up with whatever was on the plate in front of him; almost.  
While they were eating, Oikawa listened at the family’s conversations about school and Hiroshi’s love for volleyball, that reminded the brunet of himself, in a way.  
By the time they left, it had already gotten dark outside and Iwaizumi asked if Oikawa wanted to stay over, to which the brunet replied with not wanting to be even more of a bother. Iwa, however, insisted on at least accompanying him to the nearest train station and Oikawa didn’t have a choice but to agree.  
“So, how did you like it”, the raven asked after they had said their goodbyes to the other’s and parted ways.  
“The play? It was great, Hiro-chan did really well.”  
“Right? And the restaurant? I mean I have a feeling you enjoyed the food”, he grinned.  
“Oh yes, I really did”, he laughed, “Honestly, Iwa-chan, thank you for tonight. I loved it.”  
Iwaizumi turned to look at him as they walked, brushing a loose strand of chestnut hair out of his face and tucking it behind his ear.  
“You-“, he stopped himself to take a breath, scanning over Oikawa’s face again,  
“You look amazing.”  
Oikawa felt his skin grow hot in embarrassment and turned away so Iwa wouldn’t notice,  
“Thank you”, he muttered, “To be honest, I wasn’t sure about the baby blue.”  
“Well, the color looks really good on you. Is it a new shirt?”  
“Oh, uhm, no. It’s Kuroo’s. The jeans are too, actually.”  
“Is that so”, the raven said, looking down at the pavement, “You should get a pair like that too. They fit you well.”  
Oikawa bit his lip at the other’s statement. He didn’t refer to his ass. He didn’t.  
“You think so? I could do that, I guess…What about yours, though, it looks pretty fancy”, he laughed, stopping in his tracks as they reached a crossroad, before turning back to look at Iwa.  
The boy hadn’t taken his eyes off him before, but was now looking ahead at the traffic light, waiting patiently for it to turn green.  
“Yeah. My dad got it for me for my sixteenth birthday. I guess that’s why it’s a little tight now”, he said, sheepishly running a hand through his hair.  
“I mean, it doesn’t look bad, Iwa-chan. Mattsun and Makki would love it.”  
He heard Iwaizumi snort beside him as the traffic lights changed color and they started walking again.  
“I swear, those two keep staring at me in the locker rooms and it’s getting weird.”  
“Well, Mattsun told me he and Makki cry over Kuroo’s abs at night. So seems like you have someone to complain to there.”  
Iwa nodded his head in agreement and they continued walking until they reached the train station.  
“So-“, Iwa started, “I’ll see you on Monday?”  
“Yeah, of course, Iwa-chan. Thank you again for spending your Friday night with me. I had a lot of fun.”  
“Me too. I’m glad you came with me. Maybe we can, like, go out to eat again sometime? Not as fancy as today, I’m afraid, but how about after school, for example?”  
“Yeah, I’d really love that.”  
“Okay, then, uhh, text me once you get home?”  
“I will, Iwa-chan. See you on Monday”, he said, before walking backwards for a bit until turning around to sprint up the station’s stairs to catch his train that had just arrived.

\-------------------------

You, 11:22pm  
I’m home Iwa-chaaann

Iwa-chan, 11:22pm  
Alright, me too. Sleep well

You, 11:22pm  
You too

Oikawa put his phone into his pocket before unlocking the door to his apartment and stepping inside, letting it shut behind him.  
He noticed the faint sound of the television coming from the living room and chuckled to himself when he spotted his mother asleep on the couch in front of it, a half-empty cup of tea on the on the small coffee table.  
He pulled out a blanket from one of the cupboards next to the couch and covered the woman with it, careful not to wake her.  
She stirred in her sleep, mumbled a silent ‘Tooru, but didn’t open her eyes.  
He leaned down to press a light kiss on her forehead and made sure to tuck her in a little better.  
Then, he swiftly turned off the TV before walking into the kitchen, filling a glass of water and taking it up to his room with him.  
He jumped at the sound of his phone buzzing in his jacket’s pocket and took it out, slowly kicking his door to a close behind him and flopping down on his air mattress.

Kuroo, 11:30pm  
Oikawa? Are u home?

You, 11:31pm  
Ah Tetsu-chan! Yeah I’m home

Kuroo, 11:31pm  
Ugh ^^

Kuroo, 11:31pm  
Wanna talk?

You, 11:31pm  
Can I call you? I’m too lazy to text rn

Kuroo, 11:31pm  
K

“So, my prince, how was it”, he could hear Kuroo’s smirk through his phone,  
“Good night to you too, Tetsu-chan. And yes, it was very nice, indeed.”  
“Ohoho? You seem very pleased with the way your dear Iwa-chan treated you tonight, hmm? He wasn’t too rough, now, was he?”  
Oikawa snorted,  
“Oh please, Kuroo, even you should have figured out by now that I like it rough.”  
“Alright. TMI.”  
“Yeah, okay. But really, it was great. We went out for dinner after the play and, oh my god, Tetsu, the food there was delicious. I’ve never in my life eaten something like that and then I got to try Iwa’s and it was so good too.“  
“Did you just forget the ‘-chan’ in all your excitement”, the raven on the other end laughed.  
“Did I? Well, that’s because it really was awesome. I’m kinda sad I didn’t get to meet Iwa’s dad, though. His mom was so nice and since Iwa is really nice too, his dad would have to be too, right?”  
“Iwaizumi’s dad?”  
“Yeah? Have you met him before?”  
“Oh, uhh, yeah. I have met him. You should ask Iwaizumi about him yourself, okay?”  
“Yeah, sure.”  
The two fell into a silence and Oikawa wished he didn’t have to talk to Kuroo over the phone. If the raven was here with him, he could at least see the expression on his face, maybe hear his breath. It wouldn’t be as awkward.  
“Tetsu-chan?”  
Kuroo just hummed in response, a sign for Oikawa to continue talking.  
“How was your evening? Do you feel better?”  
“Ah, well, I felt kinda lonely without you here.”  
Oikawa startled at the lack of sarcasm in his voice. He hadn’t had enough time to get used to Kuroo not joking with him.  
“You felt lone-“  
“N-No, I’m sorry, that was uncalled for. I feel better. I asked Mattsun for our homework and he dropped by today to lend me his notes, so you don’t have to worry about me.”  
“Are you sure Mattsun gave you everything? I can come by tomorrow if you want.”  
“You don’t have to.”  
Silence, again. It was heavy, uncomfortable.  
The brunet shifted on his mattress, pressing his phone closer to his ear, before speaking up again,  
“Are you tired?”  
He heard Kuroo let out a breath of what he hoped to be relief and roam around in the background, probably getting into a more comfortable position as well,  
“Not really. Are you?”  
“No. I don’t want to go to bed, at least. I’d rather continue talking to you for a little longer.”  
Kuroo chuckled, but hummed in agreement,  
“Yeah, same.”  
Oikawa couldn’t help but smile when Kuroo suggested to skype instead of just talking and while his laptop was booting up, he went to brush his teeth and change into a light teal colored, oversized sweater, before settling down on the mattress and placing the laptop on his thighs.  
Once the other had accepted his video call, he was greeted by the raven’s typical mess of bedhead hair. The teen was wearing the wine red sweater he had lent to Oikawa the day before and the brunet noticed how well the color fit him. Maybe that was what Iwaizumi had meant earlier. It felt like Kuroo was made to wear wine red colored clothing. Although he didn’t think baby blue was his equivalent to Kuroo’s red.  
“You look like you’re ready to pass out at any second”, he joked, noticing the dark bags beneath the other’s eyes, “Are you sure you don’t want to sleep?”  
“I’m fine”, Kuroo reassured him, “I told you I’m not that tired. Besides, when am I ever going to get the chance to see my prince looking so imperfect ever again?”  
“What the hell do you mean ‘imperfect’? I always look exceptionally gorgeous.”  
“Always but now. And you know what? I like that. A lot. Makes you human, you know.”  
“I’d rather be a perfect alien than look like shit, Tetsu-chan.”  
“But I didn’t say you looked like shit, you idiot. You just don’t look crazy beautiful right now. And I’m not gonna lie, it makes me like you better.”  
“Don’t be jealous, Kuroo-kun”, Oikawa chimed, dragging every letter of his name out to increase the level of pettiness in his voice as much as possible.  
Of course Kuroo knew just the right thing to say to get back at Oikawa, which led to them playfully insulting each other more and more until way past two.  
Their teasing only ended when Kuroo stopped reacting to Oikawa’s teasing, because he had fallen asleep on his bed. Oikawa chuckled at the soft snores coming from the other end of the line. He would’ve been lying if he said he didn’t let the call continue on for a few more minutes, just to watch Kuroo’s features relax with every breath, getting tired himself. However, he ended it before he could fall asleep as well; turning off his laptop, he huddled under his blanket and snuggled up in the silky fabric of his sheets. He let out a content sigh as he drifted off into sleep, his mind going over the events of the day as a satisfying feeling of happiness spread throughout his body.  
\--------------------  
Oikawa’s weekend passed quickly, as always. He didn’t bring himself to do much beside finishing his assignments, calling his sister and visiting his physiologist. However, when he had to get up on Monday morning, he missed exactly that laziness.  
He managed to sleepwalk through his morning routine rather well. His mother had laughed at his state at breakfast, but he chose to stubbornly ignore her ‘I told you not to stay up late’ and got himself a rare cup of coffee instead.  
When he spotted Iwaizumi, yet again, leaning against the wall of his building, he wondered if that had become a thing for them.  
“Morning Iwa-chan”, he said, a yawn accompanying his words.  
“Morning, Oikawa. Did you pull an all-nighter?”  
“Very funny. No I didn’t. I just wouldn’t mind another, uhh, day or two of sleep.”  
Iwaizumi laughed as he picked up his bag off the ground,  
“Me neither.”  
On their way to school, Iwaizumi told Oikawa about his weekend, about how he went out to get coffee with that Sawamura guy, Oikawa had met a few days prior, and his boyfriend Sugawara, who were both third years like them.  
Oikawa decided to keep his and Kuroo’s late night skype call to himself. He didn’t know why, but it felt wrong to talk to Iwa about it.  
“Looks like it’s going to rain again today, huh?”  
Oikawa looked up at the sky where big gray clouds were hovering above the city.  
“Today’s weather is screams cinema, if you ask me.”  
Iwa turned to look at him, a curious smirk on his face,  
“Are you implying something?”  
“Hm? Oh, no, Iwa-chan”, he grinned back at him,  
“Unless, of course, you were thinking of taking me out again, because if so, yeah, I was totally implying that.”  
The raven just laughed, lightly slapping Oikawa’s back,  
“I guess I was.”  
“Good, that means we’re in”, sounded a voice from behind them.  
Matsukawa wrapped his arm around Oikawa, his other hand ruffling the brown locks.  
Kuroo and Makki caught up to them as well, the taller pulling Mattsun off the now complaining Oikawa.  
“Tetsu-chan”, said boy greeted, running his hands through his tousled hair.  
“Tetsu-chan”, Makki repeated, a hint of amusement audible in his voice.  
“Hey, how’s it going?”  
“Eh, Monday vibes.”  
“I can see that”, the raven teased, eyeing Oikawa up, “You look tired.”  
The brunet just shrugged and continued walking inside the building.  
When they reached the third year’s floor, the group split up to get to their respective homeroom classes.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was the hardest to write so far. I don't quite know why, but I had to start all over again like three times. Anyway, it's a cinema scene and the movie is IT (yes, that's as far as my creativity goes) and since I haven't watched it, I kinda just went with it being scary. Enjoy the cringe, friends!

As soon as they had settled down and the teacher arrived, Oikawa felt his eyelids grow heavy, the rush of caffeine that kept him going seemed to be slowly dying down. However, once Kuroo started ripping off small pieces of paper from his notebook, only to form them into tiny paper pellets and throw them against the head of the student sitting before them, Oikawa managed to resist the urge to close his eyes right then and there. The poor student must have known that he was completely defenseless to Kuroo’s paper ball attack, certainly having experienced something like it before, and so, decided to just ignore him, much to the raven’s displeasure.  
“So, does anyone have any more questions about their musical act and overall role in this year’s school festival”, the teacher asked at the end of the lesson, catching Oikawa’s attention. The mention of his act at the festival made his stomach turn. After their last music class, Oikawa had acted so childish toward Iwaizumi, thinking back to it, he cringed. The thought of asking his music teacher about wanting to switch to one of the groups that worked backstage crossed his mind, but he dismissed it just as quickly. He was going to play their song and try his best. If not for the sake of his group, then for himself. Or maybe for Iwaizumi.  
The teacher managed to answer a few questions before the bell rang and the students made their way to their next class.  
For Oikawa English vocabulary had never come easy, but he still managed to push through pages and pages of foreign words with rather little effort compared to other students.  
He was an analytical type and although he preferred subjects that required logical thinking such as math, he did well in all of his language classes. To him, learning a new language was a kind of logic in itself. He concentrated on finding grammatical patterns and using that knowledge to create connections to the things he had already learned.  
And so, his English and Japanese classes went by quickly and when they were dismissed for lunch break, he found himself mentally exhausted. Not to mention his nerves. Mattsun and Kuroo never failed to annoy the shit out of him either.  
He didn’t like the smirk that formed on Makki’s face as soon as he spotted his boyfriend in the dining hall.  
“Okay, why do you two look like you’re up to something stupid”, Kuroo asked once they reached their usual table.  
Makki snorted but waved him off when Mattsun sat down next to him and leaned in to steal a kiss from the strawberry blond.  
Oikawa chose the spot next to Kuroo, leaving room for Iwaizumi to sit across from him.  
The raven wasn’t there yet and Oikawa assumed it had to do with him being the student’s representative. Oikawa had switched schools in the middle of the term, so the winter school festival was already drawing closer and everyone was busy with preparations.  
Oikawa was nibbling at some vegetables when Iwa plopped down in front of him with an exhausted sigh.  
“Iwa-chan?”  
“Hey Oikawa.”  
“Are you okay”, Kuroo asked while raising an eyebrow.  
“I guess. I’m just tired. They sent me to carry 17 boxes of plastic plates up to the third floor.”  
“17”, Hanamaki asked, the corners of his lips tugging up into a grin.  
Iwaizumi just responded with a nod followed by another sigh before he let his head rest on his hand and closed his eyes.  
Oikawa couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Iwaizumi’s facial features softening more and more by the second.  
He jerked when the boy opened one eye to look at him, a warm smile forming on his lips as well.  
“I’m sorry”, Oikawa said, looking down at his food.  
He could feel both Iwaizumi’s and Kuroo’s eyes on him as he quickly took a bite from his onigiri.  
The five ate in silence for a bit until Makki decided to enlighten them on his and Mattsun’s plans,  
“Alright”, he said drumming his fingers against the edge of the table,  
“Mattsun and I decided on tonight’s program. Since our dear friend Iwa-chan proposed to pay for our trip to the cinema, we took it upon ourselves to choose the movie we’re going to watch.”  
“I never said I was going to pay for all of you too.”  
“You said you were going to pay for Oikawa and we didn’t want you two to have all the fun without us. We haven’t set the ‘dating in a group’ rules yet”, Matsukawa injected.  
“He does have a point”, Kuroo said, pointing his chopsticks at Iwaizumi, who just raised his eyebrows at the couple next to him.  
“Besides, it’s not like you to refuse to pay for your broke friends. Mattsun and I are getting the snacks.”  
Iwaizumi glanced at Oikawa, who slowly nodded at him, an amused smile on his face,  
“I mean it doesn’t sound too bad.”  
“I guess. I’m still no fan of the idea that I’m paying for all of you, though”, Iwa said, the frown on his face still intact.  
“Okay, it’s settled then. We’re meeting at the cinema at six. Then we’re getting the tickets.”  
“What movie are we watching”, Kuroo asked.  
“Don’t worry about that”, Makki replied with a grin, “We’ve got everything planned out.”  
“That doesn’t sound very promising”, Iwaizumi muttered before averting his attention toward his food again.  
After lunch Oikawa found himself wishing for school to be over even more than before. He was tired, yes, but now it was the excitement for the night that made him shift on his chair so much Kuroo had to tell him to stop twice.  
The math teacher threw him curious glances every now and then, but since he raised his hand as much as usual, she didn’t seem to care all too much. At the end of class she handed out sheets of paper that had the topics of their next exam on them. Oikawa was glad nothing new had made it onto the list and so he found that it was a good chance for him to just see what her tests were like without having to excessively study for it.  
Their last class being rather boring that day, Oikawa managed to sneakily solve some of the problems on the first sheet. He had to promise Matsukawa to give him the finished ones later to use for correction, knowing that math wasn’t a subject he favored.  
Kuroo asked him what he was going to do until they’d meet up and Oikawa just shrugged, assuming he wasn’t going to do much beside some homework and listening to music.  
They decided that they were going to meet up with Iwaizumi at 5:20 and then walk to the cinema together.  
Iwa insisted on walking Oikawa home again to which the taller agreed happily.  
The two took their time walking along the side of the rode chatting and laughing all the while.  
“What kind of movie do you think they chose, Iwa-chan?”  
“Who knows? Probably something either stupid or gory.”  
“Or both”, Oikawa chuckled.  
“Yeah, maybe. You never know with those two. I remember in our first year, I knew Mattsun and Makki already by that time, they suggested for us to go to the cinema on a Saturday, ‘cause there was some new ‘super awesome’ movie out. They invited some kid to come with us too and that’s when I first met Kuroo, actually”, he laughed, “Anyway, they didn’t make me buy the tickets, at least, but we ended up watching some cliché ass romance movie that day.”  
“Really”, Oikawa snorted, “Were Mattsun and Makki a couple then?”  
“Oh no. They were very obviously into each other, but neither had confessed then. Believe it or not, they used to be even bigger idiots than they are now.”  
Oikawa smiled at that. For some reason he had expected the two to have been together forever. He couldn’t imagine them being clueless and pining on each other for the longest time before actually getting together. He made a mental note to ask them about how they worked it out in the end.  
“Alright”, Iwa spoke up after a while, “There’s the station. I’m walking in this direction.”  
Oikawa nodded, stopping in his tracks,  
“Alright, text me so we can meet up, okay.”  
“Yeah, I will. See you later, Oikawa.”  
“Bye, Iwa-chan!”  
Oikawa hurried to get home after that. He decided to call his mom once he got there to inform her about his plans for the evening, so she didn’t try to call him when he was at the cinema. He would hate to find that she was worried for him, because he turned off his phone during the movie and therefore didn’t answer her calls.  
“I’m home”, he mumbled when he stepped into his flat and took off his shoes. He knew his mom was still at work, so he didn’t bother to check the living room for any sign of life, but instead walked straight up to his room.  
The hours before he got both Kuroo’s and Iwaizumi’s texts were spent by aimlessly clicking through buzzfeed unsolved and some old Vine compilations that made him miss the app a little bit. He also had made sure to set an alarm just in case he fell asleep, but turned it off when his phone signaled the other two’s messages.  
He hurried to get to the location Kuroo sent him. It was a crossroad next to a park Oikawa hadn’t gotten to check out then. He had only seen it when he first came to Miyagi but forgot to ask the others about it. There was a sign that displayed a route up to a hill, to which you could get by walking through the park. Apparently there was a shrine that was often visited by students who prayed for good marks on their exams. He hoped that maybe his friends would take him there some day when exams have started.  
He jerked when he felt himself being pulled back into a quick hug, but relaxed as soon as he saw the familiar red of the sweater the boy was wearing.  
“God, Kuroo, you scared me”, he mumbled as the raven let go of him with a laugh.  
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry”, he said, raising his hands in defense, “I thought you’d be happy to see me.”  
Oikawa hadn’t noticed he was actually pouting at Kuroo and sighed, before he let a small smile tug on the corners of his lips,  
“I am happy to see you. I just didn’t expect to get a hug from Kuroo-san.”  
“Don’t go back to calling me that. I thought you were my friend”, he whined, dramatically wiping an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye.  
“Tetsu-chan did you just friendzone me? How could you?”  
Kuroo’s eyes widened slightly at the brunet’s statement and he opened his mouth to say something.  
“Guys! Sorry I’m late, I couldn’t find my wallet”, sounded a voice from a little down the street, cutting Kuroo off.  
“Iwa-chan”, Oikawa turned away to greet his friend, albeit not failing to notice Kuroo was still looking a little dazzled next to him,  
“You’re only like what? Two minutes late? Don’t worry about it. It’s a good thing you found your wallet, considering you’re paying tonight”, he chimed, earning an exhausted sigh from the shorter.  
“You’re one to joke, Trashykawa, I insisted on paying for you all along.”  
“No fun, Iwa-chan.”  
“Iwa”, Kuroo spoke up, slightly hitting his friend on the shoulder, “I’ll pay for myself. I was just joking at lunch, don’t worry. It’s going to be expensive enough to pay for four and I still owe you for the kneepads.”  
“Kneepads?”  
Kuroo looked over at Oikawa with a confused expression,  
“For volleyball. I lost mine somewhere at a practice match against a college team, so I borrowed his all the time and ended up breaking them.”  
“Okay, hold up”, Oikawa stopped him from saying any more and leaned forward to get a better look at Kuroo and Iwa,  
“You guys can play volleyball?”  
The other’s just chuckled and the three started walking toward the cinema.  
“Yeah, I’d say we both play fairly decent. Kuroo is better, though.”  
“Nah, Iwa is pretty good himself. I just practice more, that’s all.”  
“Practice”, Oikawa felt his heart skip a beat at the word.  
“Yup. I play middle blocker on our school’s volleyball team.”  
“You do what-“, the brunette’s head snapped toward Iwaizumi who just nodded his head reassuringly, “You really play on our school’s team? That’s just- That’s so awesome Tetsu!”  
“I guess so”, the tall raven laughed, “Why are you getting so excited about it, you forget the honorifics again?”  
Oikawa suddenly felt himself tense up at his words,  
“I just- I used to play volleyball. I mean, that was a long time ago. I guess I just still love it a lot.”  
“Oikawa”, he heard Iwa mumble beside him.  
“Well, then I’ll take you to practice with me next time, if you want?”  
“Would that really be okay?”  
Kuroo laughed at the insecure tone in his voice,  
“Of course, we often have spectators. There are a lot of coaches from different colleges who come to check up on our talented team members. You know, advertise a little.”  
Oikawa turned to look at the ground for a moment. Volleyball was something he had tried to cut all connections to. He only vaguely remembered the day he was told that he was never again going to be able to play the sport that he had built his entire life around. He had been told to forget countless times, to give up.  
His volleyball career had ended as quickly as it began and all the predictions, the contracts, they were all torn up the second it happened. He told himself not to feel regret, not to give in to the overwhelming sadness he hated to connect to volleyball. Before it happened, ‘talented’ was what had best described him. He had been one of the kids the scouts had decided to keep an eye on, someone they believed could make it far. Just what the players on Kuroo’s team seemed to be.  
“I’d love to go.”  
Oikawa didn’t take his eyes off the road before him but he still had a feeling the others were looking at him questionably. His voice hadn’t failed him, but both Iwa and Kuroo weren’t oblivious enough not to notice his aura was different from before. Especially knowing that he had told Iwaizumi about his accident made him feel as though he shouldn’t have agreed to come with.  
“Alright”, Kuroo said, his voice a little more silent, “You can always change your mind if you don’t feel like coming, okay?”  
“No, I know. I want to.”  
“Good. Then let’s save some of that for later. Iwa, did you tell the others we’re on our way, or should I?”  
Iwaizumi startled and averted his gaze from Oikawa to flash a smile at Kuroo,  
“I told them when I left. They’re there to get snacks already. They asked me if there’s anything special we’d like and that they got those spicy tortilla chip things for you, Kuroo. I didn’t know about Oikawa, sorry.”  
“It’s fine, I don’t need anything special.”  
With that being said, the three fell into a comfortable silence as they continued to make their way to the cinema. Oikawa definitely appreciated the change of topics.  
They got there a little early but didn’t have to wait for long until Mattsun and Makki joined them, both boys holding excessive amounts of snacks.  
The couple decided it was best not to hand out everyone’s tickets, not wanting to risk for the other three to turn around and walk out again, and so Iwaizumi had to fork over his wallet with an unwilling pout.  
They managed to miss exactly those ten minutes of commercials before the movie would start and so as soon as they had found their seats, the only thing separating them from their movie was a trailer for a different one.  
They were seated in the far back of the theater, which everyone but Oikawa found to be the best spot.  
“Glasses”, the four boys laughed as Oikawa pushed the specs up higher on the bridge of his nose.  
“Yes, now could you please drop those stupid grins.”  
“Aww, you’re getting embarrassed”, Kuroo smirked at him, “They’re cute. Makes me wonder why you never wear them in class.”  
“Because, Tetsu-chan, I usually wear contacts. These”, he said, pointing at his face, “really just look ridiculous.”  
At this point Oikawa wished he wouldn’t have agreed on sitting in between both Kuroo and Iwaizumi. Maybe even Matsukawa would’ve been a better choice.  
“I think they look good on you”, Iwa said, a soft tone in his voice that managed to soothe Oikawa’s nerves a little.  
“You’re just saying that ‘cause you know I don’t like them”, Oikawa replied with a pout.  
“Don’t think that lowly of me, Stupidkawa. They look good and that’s that. Don’t make me repeat myself again.”  
“Alright, alright. Sorry Iwa-chan.”  
Now Oikawa heard Kuroo gasp,  
“What about me? I said you looked cute too, give me some credit.”  
Oikawa just laughed and shook his head,  
“We both know you’d find me attractive if I wore a paper bag on my head, Tetsu.”  
“Well, okay, I’m not denying that. But you like it when I compliment you.”  
“Obviously.”  
“Alright guys, TMI”, Makki called from his seat.  
“Oh please, Makki, there’s no such thing as TMI for you”, Kuroo mocked him, before taking a sip of his drink.  
Next to Oikawa, Iwa shifted in his seat,  
“Am I the only one who thinks this evening is going to be exhausting, or-“, he mumbled, concern clear in his voice.  
Oikawa turned to look at him with creased brows and shook his head knowingly.  
\--------------------------  
Was there any other movie they could’ve picked?  
Oikawa thought that, yes, there were a ton of other movies one could have chosen that night.  
Low quality action movies with lots of high quality special effects, funny comedy films with stupid puns and sexual jokes that kids would never have been able to comprehend, even cheesy romance movies or something along the lines of fantasy; just anything but that, really.  
It wasn’t that Oikawa didn’t like horror movies.  
Well, he preferred sci-fi, but horror wasn’t his least favorite genre.  
In fact, on any other occasion he would’ve picked horror over romance, comedy and probably action too, but not that day; he wasn’t having it.  
Aside from the fact that he felt like he was going to faint whenever that goddamn clown showed up, he was also seated next to two guys who seemed to enjoy making his heart skip beats, asking if he was okay and laughing it off whenever he grabbed onto their arms , completely tense from the fear of jump scares.  
It got to a point where Kuroo almost choked on some popcorn from how hard he was laughing at the way Oikawa tried to bury his nails in the flesh of his thigh. Tooru wouldn’t have admitted it then, but he knew very well how kinky that was and it made him shudder in embarrassment.  
“Here”, Kuroo had stopped laughing and laid his hand on top of Oikawa’s, which was still casually clenching his thigh,  
“You can squeeze my hand if you get scared. That way I won’t get asked all kinds of questions in the locker room after practice tomorrow.”  
The raven seemed amused, still, but he didn’t sound as though he was shaming Oikawa for getting scared, which the boy considered to be a big plus.  
Then, while he was holding tightly onto Kuroo’s hand, Iwa wasn’t any less productive in trying to calm him down a little.  
He had his arm rested on the back of Oikawa’s seat and his left hand was busy playing with said boy’s locks, carefully, tenderly pulling at the soft strands of hair, making Oikawa feel much more at ease with every tug.  
“You do know this is just a movie”, the boy had leaned in to whisper into Oikawa’s ear after another scary scene, not failing to send a chill down the brunet’s spine.  
“Of course I know, Iwa-chan. I just don’t like jump scares, that’s all. You can never really be ready for them.”  
The raven chuckled at his statement but nodded,  
“Well, to be honest, this isn’t what I had planned. I’ll take you out another time to make up for it, would that be okay?”  
Oikawa couldn’t help but relish in the warmth of Iwaizumi’s smile of a few seconds. He seemed genuinely sorry for what their date had turned into. Oikawa wanted to punch himself for thinking of it as a date, but he wasn’t all that oblivious and he had a strong feeling that that was what Iwaizumi had initially intended their visit to the cinema to be.  
He couldn’t be sure, though.  
“I think I’d like that”, he whispered back and took another glance at the slightly lifted corners of the other’s mouth, before averting his attention back onto the movie playing in front of them.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone! I'm so sorry for the long wait. I finally got around to finishing this chapter and to make up for my inactivity, I made sure to add some fluff in this one. I really hope you enjoy and I'll try my best to prioritize working on this story in the future.

“You did it”, was the first thing Kuroo said once the movie theater’s lights had turned back on.  
Oikawa had finally let go of his hand and the raven used the opportunity to ruffle his hair a bit,  
“Good job, I’m proud of you.”  
“Thank you, thank you, Tetsu-chan”, Oikawa mused, getting up from his seat,  
“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.”  
“It was a pleasure, prince. I couldn’t but help you when you look so innocent and vulnerable with those glasses on.”  
“Oh shut up”, Oikawa growled pulling them off,  
Kuroo just laughed and patted his back as the group made their way out of the cinema.  
The five of them decided to walk together for a bit and then split up to go their separate ways.  
Makki and Mattsun both went the same way since the shorter, once again, was going to spend the night at his boyfriend’s place. The other three knew better than to ask him about it.  
When they reached the spot they’d met up at earlier, Oikawa asked about the shrine and he was promised that they’d soon visit it in order to pray for some good marks on their upcoming exams. Oikawa had almost forgotten how close they actually were. He felt grateful for he had been able to catch up so quickly, knowing that switching schools in the middle of the term was not one of the smartest decisions.  
“I’m gonna have to study my ass off for that English test”, Kuroo sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.  
Oikawa remembered how much of a genius Kuroo seemed to be when it came to science and math, but judging from the small pout on his face, the boy wasn’t as good in his language classes as Oikawa had initially believed.  
“I can help you study a bit if you want, I’m pretty good at English”, he suggested and Kuroo laughed, pulling him into a quick hug,  
“That would be great, really. Being tutored by the smart Oikawa-san, can you believe it Iwa?”  
“Absolutely amazing. Isn’t he so kind”, Iwa responded as Kuroo let go of Oikawa and the boy couldn’t help but clench his chest at the sarcasm.  
“And here I was trying to be a good friend and you guys just go and hurt me like this, how could you?”  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about”, Kuroo said, feigning innocence,  
“Anyway, I’ll head home now. Iwa, make sure he doesn’t, like, get run over by a bus, alright? It would be a shame if I had to memorize my English vocabulary all by myself.”  
With that said, Kuroo nodded to them and turned to walk away, waving his hands behind his head,  
“Have a good night guys, see you tomorrow!”  
“Tetsu! You did your damage and now you’re just leaving like that, how rude”, Oikawa whined and the defeated tone in his voice made Iwa chuckle next to him.  
“You sure are a drama queen, hm? Maybe Kuroo should overthink the whole ‘prince’ thing, it doesn’t fit you.”  
“Why, Iwa-chan, why are you being so mean to me”, he cried out and Iwa just laughed, draping himself over the brunet’s shoulder as the two started to walk toward the nearest train station. Iwa decided that Oikawa shouldn’t have to walk home by himself and the boy couldn’t argue against it.  
It didn’t take them very long to get to Oikawa’s apartment building and Iwa agreed to come in for a cup of tea and, depending on the food situation, maybe even dinner. Tooru had been so scared at the cinema that he, to his shock, forgot to eat most of the snacks the others had bought for him and being home now, he suddenly felt hungry again. Eating real food was probably healthier than stuffing himself with unhealthy snacks anyway.  
“Mom, I’m home!”  
Oikawa motioned for Iwa to take his shoes off as there was no reaction to his greeting.  
“She must’ve fallen asleep again”, he chuckled, poking his head into the living room to check on her.  
“You can wait in the kitchen, I’ll just turn the TV off really quick.”  
Iwa nodded and Oikawa quickly tiptoed through the living room to pull a blanket over the softly snoring woman and place a quick kiss on her forehead, before shutting off the television and joining Iwa in the other room.  
“So”, he started, opening the fridge,  
“Anything in particular you wanna eat?”  
Iwa startled at his words and averted his gaze off a picture of his friend as a kid that was hung up on the wall next to the kichen’s door,  
“Oh, uhm, no, not really.”  
“We still have some leftover Agedashi Tofu I could heat up, if that’s okay?”  
Oikawa was surprised by the way Iwa’s eyes seemed to light up at the mention of the dish, but soon got to know the cause of it,  
“That’s my favorite!”  
“Eh? Seriously? I didn’t know.”  
“I haven’t told you before, have I”, Iwa smiled, leaning against the counter as he proceeded to watch Oikawa prepare the food.  
“Well, at least now I know how to keep you from being so mean to me all the time, Iwa-chan.”  
“Maybe if you dropped the ‘chan’ I would consider being a bit nicer.”  
“Sure, Iwa-chan, we both know you wouldn’t even give it a try.”  
“Yeah”, Iwa laughed, getting closer in order to look over Oikawa’s shoulder, examining the food,  
“You’re probably right. I’d rather have you call me Iwa-chan for the rest of my life than stop teasing you.”  
At that, Oikawa was positive his heart skipped a beat.  
It wasn’t that Iwa was so close to him (well, maybe that was part of the reason), but what made him jump were his words. He had just told him that there might, possibly, be a future in which they stay friends until they’re old and gray. Besides that, Iwa had worded it as though he firmly believed they weren’t going to separate any time soon and considering they were in their last year of high school, that meant that Iwa might actually consider staying with him even after they graduate.  
He had to secretly pinch himself. Thinking about things like that was confusing and risky with Iwa right there behind him, so close his breath was tickling the brunet’s skin.  
He didn’t know anything about the other’s plans for the future and he was sure that, at that moment, he preferred staying in the present. At least make it a little longer, stretch the time only a little bit and not think of Iwa going anywhere. He could always ask him about his plans later. No rush.  
What counted right now was that those few, simple words Iwa had just added incidentally, with a lazy grin and the visible excitement for the simple food on his face, as if they had no meaning whatsoever, made the brunet realize something. Oikawa Tooru liked to think he wasn’t oblivious, but he didn’t want to admit what he’d found out about himself. He didn’t want to admit to the things he’d just accidentally discovered in the short time he had spent with his new group of friends, with Iwa; not even to himself. So he did what he found to be the least harmful and decided to ignore the way his stomach grumbled, play it off as him starving and relish in the soft warmth of Iwa’s breath on his neck, so close, yet confusingly, painfully far.  
\--------------------------  
He hadn’t thought he’d ever see Iwaizumi sitting there, right in front of him, with a big, satisfied grin on his face. Seeing the empty bowl before the raven made him feel like a housewife and he, quite honestly, didn’t mind.  
He hadn’t thought he’d ever lean over to wipe his thumb, covered in a napkin, at the corner of Iwaizumi’s mouth, in order to sweep up some food crumbs, either.  
And most certainly had he not thought he’d ever see the other’s cheeks turn bright red under his touch, accentuating the emerald green of his eyes.  
It was too much. He was probably overstepping every single boundary set for ‘just friends’ at the speed of light, at that point, and all it did was make him feel more confident in his actions. And in the fact that he’d surely gone mad.  
The two had done the dishes together, once they’d finished eating and Oikawa felt reassured in his role as an amazing wife. Maybe Iwa was right and the nickname ‘prince’ didn’t fit him well.  
After making sure the kitchen was in an acceptable state, Iwa decided that it wasn’t all too late and so, Oikawa found himself battling the raven in Mario Kart.  
They were sitting on Tooru’s mattress, their feet tangled up in each other. Both of them were hunched over two Nintendo’s, one belonging to Oikawa’s sister, pressing buttons and laughing over the stupid insults they managed to come up with.  
It was comfortable, really, being so close to Iwa. It felt neither wrong nor unnerving. They just seemed to genuinely enjoy each other’s presence.  
“You’re the one who sent it, aren’t you!”  
“You think I’d let you win that easily, dumbass? I won’t watch Peach and her ugly Light Tripper cross the finish line before me just like that!”  
“Let me inform you that you’re the one who chose Bowser and his hideous Tyrant Kart just because you have a crush on Godzilla. Besides, in my case it doesn’t matter which Kart I choose since I’d win against your sorry ass even if I was blindfolded.”  
Oikawa let out a pained yelp when Iwa kicked him underneath the blanket and another shriek when he fell out of the world and the screen of his Nintendo went black.  
“Iwa-chan, you cheater! I demand we restart now! I was just about to defeat you again.”  
“Hah, dream on! You deserve it anyway for saying I have a crush on Godzilla.”  
“But it’s true! You’re so unfair, Iwa-chan.”  
Oikawa knew it annoyed the raven when he dragged the ‘chan’ out like that, but despite the warnings the logical part of his brain shot him, he did so anyway and, admittedly, he wasn’t quite as surprised when Iwa quickly pinched his side as he had been the first time that night.  
“You wanna go, Bakakawa?”  
“Bring it on, Iwa-chan!”  
The next morning, when he would have to explain to his mother why there was a dark purple bruise on his left shin, he’d probably regret ever having said anything to upset the raven, at all. Actually, even during the two minutes he tried to catch his breath while being tickled, his thoughts seemed to be filled with regret.  
Then again, that feeling was easily drowned out by the desire not to suffocate from laughing too much. Not to forget that the added weight of Iwa holding him down, pressing him into the mattress with all his might, by sitting on his stomach and pinning both his arms above his head with just one hand, mind you, made breathing significantly more difficult.  
“Stop! I’m sorry Iwa-chan, sorry!”  
“What did you say? I can’t hear you over the sound of your weak begging.”  
“That doesn’t- Screw you, then”, Oikawa spat out, desperately trying to free his arms from the other’s illegally strong grip, but gave up when, once and for all, he realized that there was no way he could win a fight against him.  
He relaxed back against the mattress and finally made an effort to come to terms with his fate when the raven suddenly released his hands with a chuckle.  
“Man, Tooru, wrestling you is no fun. Did you even try to get out?”  
“Shut up! There’s no way anyone could compete with your buff build. It’s hard to believe you’re so strong when you’re so short, Iwa-chan.”  
“What did you just say? Do you want me to continue tickling you, you lanky bastard?”  
Height. Just then Oikawa realized that not only was Iwa still sitting on his stomach, which meant there was no way in hell he could escape anyway, but he also just hit a very sensitive topic and, if he was being honest, he enjoyed Iwa’s reaction more than he thought he would. However, he decided it would be best for his overall health to let it off for now and remember Iwa not liking to be called short for future arguments. He knew he’d make use of his newfound knowledge one day, Iwa wouldn’t have to wait for long, that was for sure.  
“Alright, alright. You won, bara-chan. Now get off of me, I can’t breathe.”  
Iwa chuckled a little, slowly crawling off of him.  
“That was fun, wasn’t it?”  
Oikawa just clicked his tongue and turned to bury his face in his pillow with an exhausted grunt.  
To his surprise the raven next to him fell silent and didn’t move to pinch him again. Oikawa assumed he might be checking his phone and relaxed further into the mattress. One-hundred to zero real quick, he thought.  
A few minutes had passed when he felt movement next to him until he heard the others familiar voice whispering into his ear,  
“Tooru”, he chuckled, “Did you fall asleep?”  
Oikawa just nodded, shivering at the feeling of the other’s hot breath against his skin.  
He heard Iwa let out a warm, low laugh and move to lie down next to him.  
“So if you’re asleep, you won’t mind if I look through your phone, right?”  
Oikawa quickly turned his head to look a the raven, his eyebrows raised in disbelief,  
“How did you-“  
“Find out your 6-digit passcode? Easy. You’d think people would use their birthday as their passcode, right? Well, not Oikawa Tooru, or should I say: the only person I know who uses their conveniently fitting surname as their phone’s pin.”  
The way Iwa announced that completely irrelevant fact to nobody other than Tooru himself made the brunet laugh.  
“Aren’t you a self-centered person, Oikawa-san.”  
“Having your name as your passcode is self-centered, but using your own birthday isn’t?”  
After a few seconds of thinking, Iwa just shrugged and Tooru took the opportunity to retrieve his phone from his hands.  
“Even if I was asleep, I’d mind. There are very important things on there”, he announced.  
“Oh, is that so? Like what?”  
Oikawa put his phone on the floor and turned back to Iwa,  
“None of your business, obviously!”  
Iwa was still lying next to him, facing him and up close, Oikawa found his face to be even more handsome than from afar.  
It didn’t take long for Iwaizumi to break the silence, but as long as it lasted, Oikawa couldn’t help but admire his emerald eyes again, his defined cheekbones and chiseled jawline. Even the thin creases on his forehead and by the corners of his lightly smirking mouth that made Oikawa think of how kind and caring and happy Iwa really was, despite seeming so grumpy and dangerous at first sight, fascinated him.  
“Don’t you mind?”  
Oikawa was snapped out of his trance in an instant, when Iwaizumi spoke up again,  
“What do you mean?”  
Iwa moved his hand to point at a strand of brown hair that was completely out of place, dangling in front of Oikawa’s face instead of being perfectly positioned like usually.  
Oikawa looked confused for a second, so Iwa brushed the strand out of his face himself and carefully tucked it behind Oikawa’s ear.  
“Don’t you mind your hair being a mess, drama queen?”  
Tooru just sighed and took a hold of the raven’s hand, stopping it from dropping back down onto the mattress.  
He held it up in front of his face and examined the fingers one by one. They were very much unlike his, he thought. Ever since he had stopped playing volleyball he tried his best to take good care of his hands, nonetheless, and his calloused palms had gone back to normal over the course of time. Iwa’s hands, however, were rough and strong. He assumed, even though he’d said otherwise, that the boy still practiced a lot.  
“I don’t mind. It’s only you who can see me like this, anyway”, he mumbled, slowly running a finger along the other’s palm and then all the way down his underarm until he reached the crook of his elbow.  
“Iwa-chan, do you still practice volleyball a lot?”  
Oikawa lifted his gaze a bit to see Iwa raise his eyebrows but then the corners of his mouth lifted up into a smile,  
“Occasionally, yeah. But if you’re wondering why my hands are that rough, it’s not from volleyball practice”, he laughed, “Though, I do have to admit, I’m surprised at how impressively attentive you are.”  
“I used to be a setter, Iwa-chan. Also known as the brain of every volleyball team, cut me some slack.”  
“Alright, touché. In case you want to know the real reason though, I help out at the store we went to not too long ago, remember? I get paid a little, but I’m not really doing it for the money. The woman who works there is a friend of my mother’s, so I’m glad to be of help. She insisted on paying at least a bit and I agreed. It’s not much but I’m grateful for what I can get.”  
Hearing things like that from the raven made Oikawa feel warm inside. He felt safe, in a way, knowing that Iwa was the kind of person who genuinely enjoyed helping others out; the kind of person who, even though Tooru was pretty sure Iwa would have been physically able to take out a bear, or something of similar strength, couldn’t hurt a fly. “Wow. That’s really kind of you. Admirable, honestly.”  
He couldn’t stop himself from noticing Iwa’s signature scent, when he took a slow breath. He didn’t want to stop himself, anyway. It was scaring him a little, how he couldn’t seem to get enough of that homely smell of pastries that should’ve belonged into a small, quiet bakery, rather than to Iwaizumi. What happened to Tooru’s heart in the following five seconds? He couldn’t explain it if he tried. Because meeting with eyes as unique as those of the boy that lay so close to him was nothing short of magical. Tooru felt like he melted, really. Like he lost control over his entire body; not just his knees, toes or hands, no. The entirety of his body, including his brain, his lungs and heart. And worse than having lost his willpower, he felt like he had lost it to Iwaizumi and that was a foreign feeling that sent a cold shiver down his spine and made his heart beat in his ears like it had left his chest a long while ago.  
Iwa looked about as stunned as he did, though. At least Oikawa liked to believe that. Maybe, looking back at the faint memory of the short moment one day, he wouldn’t feel that way anymore. Maybe, then, he’d have realized that a detail like this one was nothing more than something irrational his brain had managed to come up with in the rather short time their eye contact had lasted. “Well, I think it’s getting late”, Iwa said suddenly, before sitting up and Oikawa instantly felt as if a part of him got ripped off,  
“Thank you for today”, Iwa said, turning to look back at Tooru, who also moved to get up.  
“Yeah. We should do this more often.”  
Iwa nodded and smiled a reassuring smile at him.  
“Definitely”, he stretched out a hand for Oikawa to get up as well.  
“Are you okay going home alone”, the brunet asked once they were downstairs, Iwa putting his shoes on again.  
“Don’t worry about me”, he said, raising to put on his jacket and moving his hand to hold it next to his face like a phone,  
“I’ll call you when I get home, alright.”  
Oikawa nodded slowly and opened the door for him. Iwa didn’t step out immediately, which calmed Oikawa down a little. Iwa not bolting out of the door as soon as he had the chance to was a good sign. At least it made Oikawa believe he hadn’t completely overstepped his boundaries by not looking away when his gaze met with the other’s. He couldn’t help but crack a smile when Iwa moved to pull him into a hug. It wasn’t something meaningless, like those simple hugs were for most friends. More did it feel like a gesture of thankfulness that made Oikawa’s heart swell. When Iwa finally pulled away, he seemed to scan over Oikawa’s face for what felt like the hundredth time that evening and the brunet could watch the corners of his lips tug up into a lazy grin.

“Guess I’ll see you tomorrow, prince”, Iwa finally said, stepping out of the door.  
“I thought prince didn’t fit me?”  
Iwa stayed silent for a second before speaking up again,  
“The way you look tonight, I think I might have changed my mind about that.”  
He then turned around and walked down the hallway as if he hadn’t just said something that completely short circuited the rational part of Tooru’s brain.


End file.
